Fireside provides poetry programming at the elementary through high school levels that connects students to the literary heritage of their city.

Named after the “Fireside Poets,” a group that includes writers with ties to Pittsfield including Oliver Wendell Holmes and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Fireside shares in the spirit of poetry as a way to draw together families, communities, and schoolrooms.

Our courses include semester-long residencies, afterschool programming, and short-term initiatives.

Facilitated by teaching artists who are writers themselves, Fireside poetry workshops make creative writing feel significant, empowering, and fun. Our partners include Morningside Community School, Conte Community School, Crosby Educational Academy, Eagle Academy, Muddy Brook Elementary School, Roots Rising, Undermountain Elementary School, Hancock Elementary School, and Pittsfield High School.

At the end of each course, we publish student work.

For every group of students, we create a class anthology, host a celebratory poetry reading, and incorporate student work into public text installations throughout the county. Past text installations have included tree tags and sidewalk paintings on North Street, tree straps at The Clark, billboards, and engravings on park walls.

The Fireside Teachers Institute

In the fall of 2023, we launched an education program for Pittsfield Public School teachers to learn how to use poetry in their classrooms as a tool for self-expression, skill-building, and building a joyful, connected class culture.

Are you interested in bringing Fireside to your school or community?

We create poetry workshops tailored to your students. Most of our courses are grant-funded and provided for free or at minimal cost to partner schools and organizations. Reach out to Literary Director Sarah Trudgeon at info@themastheads.org.