Upcoming Events

The Fields Poetry Reading Series is a quarterly poetry series founded and run by Westfield-based New Jersey Council of the Arts 2023 Poetry Fellows, Robin Rosen Chang and Moriah Cohen. This program is made in part by a 2026 HEART (History, Education, Arts Reaching Thousands) Grant from the Union County Board of County Commissioners.

On Wednesday, September 30, The Fields Poetry Reading Series will host poets BJ Ward and Mya/Matteo Alexice in Studio 8 of the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, located at 68 Elm Street, Summit, NJ. (NOTE: This is a temporary venue change, as the usual location is undergoing repairs due to damage incurred during one of this summer’s storms.)

The reading will be from 7-9 PM and will include an open mic. Wine and light snacks will be offered between the featured reading and open mic. Admission is free, though donations are graciously accepted. The featured poets’ books will be available for purchase and signing during the event.

Featured Poets’ Bios:
BJ Ward’s first publication was a letter to the editor in the July 1981 issue of Mad Magazine. Since then, his work has been featured in Poetry, American Poetry Review, The New York Times, TriQuarterly, The Normal School, Painted Bride Quarterly, The Sun, and The Pushcart Prize Anthology. His most recent book is Jackleg Opera (North Atlantic/Random House), which received the Paterson Award for Literary Excellence. He is the recipient of two Distinguished Artist Fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and has received the Governor’s Award in Arts Education from the State of New Jersey. He lives with his wife, son, and cat in northwest New Jersey near the Musconetcong River. His website is bj-ward.com.

Mya / Matteo Alexice is a Black and white graduate of the Rutgers-Newark MFA. A Cave Canem fellow and academic studying Black romantic life, they are the author of A Shape We’ve Yet to Name (2024) and The Limerence Object (2025). Matteo’s poems can be found in publications such as Pleiades, swamp pink, Black Warrior Review, Copper Nickel, diode, Hayden’s Ferry Review, The Bennington Review, Honey Literary, and elsewhere. They’ve received fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, Fine Arts Work Center, and more. They were the runner-up in the 2023 Black Warrior Review Poetry Contest judged by Gary Soto. He enjoys video games where you can make the characters kiss.

Questions about The Fields Poetry Reading Series can be addressed to Rosen Chang or Cohen. Feel free to reach out to them at Fields.Poetry.Reading.Series@gmail.com.