The “What the Fluff?” festival hits Union Square once again soon, an event that has grown in the hearts of so many here.

For all these years Marshmallow Fluff has been a favorite snack food for many, while others could, frankly, take it or leave it. Either way, few would argue that the annual festival itself is chock full of fun and frivolity for everyone who attends.

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The Cervena Barva Press of Somerville has released a new collection of poetry American Queers by Jesse Diamond. Poet Judson Evans writes of this book:

“In AMERICAN QUEERS: Poems Celebrating Mid-Century Gay Activists, Jesse Mavro Diamond imagines a metaphoric kingdom inhabited by four relatively unknown gay and lesbian royal champions. With sharp wit and whole-hearted empathy, the poet extols and elegizes Stormé Delarverie, Richard Leitsch, Pat Parker and Charley Shively. Appending the poems with well researched biographical notes on each activist, diverse readers, students and teachers will discover the work is compelling and informative. AMERICAN QUEERS “impresses with historical vision and authenticity.”

I recently caught up with Diamond to conduct an interview for The Somerville Times.

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Nina Rubinstein Alonso’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, Writing in a Woman’s Voice, Peacock Journal, Southern Women’s Review, etc. Her book, This Body, was published by David Godine Press, her chapbook, Riot Wake, by Cervena Barva Press, and her story collection, Distractions En Route, by Ibbetson Street Press. She is also the editor of Constellations a Journal of Poetry and Fiction, constellations-lit.com.

The City of Somerville’s September 11th Remembrance Ceremony

Join Nick Zaino for a lively presentation on 100 Years of Boston Comedy with a focus on the comedy scene here in Somerville. Wednesday, September 20, 6:30—8:30 p.m. West Branch Library 40 College Ave, Somerville, MA, 02144

SHS and NEASC launched the re-accreditation process in Fall 2022; the report is the next step in the multi-year process to attain re-accreditation by the NEASC regional review board.

Somerville High School Principal Alicia Kersten announced that Somerville High School received the NEASC Collaborative Conference visit report. The report includes the findings from the high school’s self-reflection period as well as the findings from the Collaborative Conference visiting team, which included administrators and teachers from other districts in New England. SHS faculty, administrators, and other officials will use the report as a blueprint to improve the quality of programs and services for the students of the school.

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Earlier today, September 11,  the city held a procession and memorial ceremony to recognize the 22nd anniversary of 9/11. Residents were invited to join a procession that started at the Cedar St entrance of the Community Path and ended at the 9/11 memorial in Davis Square.  City officials took part in a speaking program followed by a wreath laying ceremony with the presentation and retiring of the colors by the Somerville Police and Somerville Fire Honor Guards. ~Photos by Claudia Ferro