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The Past is (a) Present: Author Talk & Writer's Workshop

Come hear local authors, Carla Panciera and Jane Ward, read from their books and discuss the role the past plays in memoir, fiction and poetry. Their talk will be followed by a brief writer's workshop

Prompts suggested by the authors will invite participants to explore the dynamic relationship between past experiences and present identity and encourage participants to consider broader themes such as time, change, loss, resilience, and transformation.

Carla Panciera was born on her family’s dairy farm in Westerly, Rhode Island. Her poetry collections include Cider Press Award Winner, One of the Cimalores, Bordighera Press Award Winner, No Day, No Dusk, No Love and most recently, One Trail of Longing, Another of String (also Bordighera), longlisted for the Massachusetts Book Award. Her short story collection, Bewildered, received AWP’s Grace Paley Award and was published by the University of Massachusetts Press. She is also the author of Barnflower: A Rhode Island Farm Memoir, a finalist for the Bakeless Prize. Her work has appeared in numerous journals including the New England Review, Poetry, Spillway, Water~Stone Review, and Iron Horse Literary Review. Carla has received funding  from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. She is the Assistant Poetry Editor for Mom Egg Review. A retired high school English teacher, Panciera lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

Jane Alessandrini Ward is the author of Should Have Told You Sooner (2026), In the Aftermath (She Writes Press, 2021), The Mosaic Artist (2011), and Hunger (Forge, 2001).After graduating from Simmons College, Jane began working in the food and hospitality industry almost immediately, taking on a range of roles that included planning private events and working as a weekend baker in a neighborhood bakery. Later, she became a contributing writer to an online regional and seasonal food magazine, as well as a blogger and occasional host of cooking videos for an internet recipe resource affiliated with several regional newspapers. Most recently, she has contributed book reviews to Story Circle and Mom Egg Review. She loves to travel and often documents her trips through travel photography. Jane lives north of Boston.

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