Last week I was invited to be a guest for an event at the 2023 Massachusetts Poetry Festival. The event was the idea of the poet Colleen Michaels who directs the Writing Studio at Monserrat College of Art.  

Colleen's idea was to generate a list of poetry-related Anomia categories which we could then turn into a poetry-themed Anomia deck!

When Poetry Fest attendees arrived I gave them a quick run through on how to play Anomia. Then, after playing for 5-10 minutes, the players would go off to different brainstorming stations where they could work on generating category ideas for the poetry deck.

Some favorite categories include:

• Poet who uses their first initials (ex, ee cummings, TS Eliot)
• Literary Device
• 2022 Collection 
• Harlem Renaissance Poet
• Dandy/Stylish Poet
• Red like....
• Your High School/College Lit Mag
• Poem You Wished You Had Written
• Poetic Place (w.g. Island of Lesbos, Paterson NJ)
• Poet Laureate
• University Press
• A Poem Everyone Knows
• Slant Rhyme

All in all it was super fun, and it all took place in the Bit Bar in Salem, MA which is full of old video games and pinball machines!

And yes, while I know the Anomia Poetry Edition might not have the largest audience ever, I think this sort of event and outcome show just how flexible Anomia can be.  Keep an eye out for the Poetry deck in our Print & Play Library and next year you might be able to buy a copy at the 2024 Mass Poetry Fest!