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Review by Off the Shelf Correspondent Ruth Hoberman

Amid summer heat and ghastly newspaper headlines, Cammy Thomas’s Odysseus’ Daughter blows in like a brisk, briny sea breeze. Nineteen poems beautifully printed, with a gatefold blue-gray cover bearing an elegant line drawing of Athena by the poet’s brother: the book is a pleasure to hold in your hands. And the poems make those familiar Odyssean characters come alive yet again: Penelope, Nausicaa, Cyclops, the sea nymph Leucothea, Argos, and others are transformed by Thomas’s precise, musical language into new guises. Anyone who has taught the Odyssey repeatedly – as Thomas has – knows how beautifully it opens up conversations about love, family, heroism, mortality, gender politics, and community.

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Andrew K. Peterson spent many nights on friends’ couches in Somerville during his twenties. He’s the author of six full-length poetry books, most recently Secret Equinox / Scorpio Journal (published by Spuyten Duyvil in 2023). In 2017 he co-wrangled for the Boston Poetry Marathon. He currently lives in Brookline, and continues to be a long-suffering Red Sox fan. Say hey at andrewkpeterson.com.

Grimes Park is a POPS (Privately Owned Public Space) park.

Now in its second year, Arts at the Armory’s Feet Keep the Beat Festival announces that it has commissioned five local percussive dance artists and one Musical Director
to create an evening length work to be premiered on August 2 in the Armory Performance Hall.

The next installment of Somerville’s SomerStreets festival series takes place on Sunday, August 4, at 2 p.m. Sing along at SomerStreets: Strike Up the Bands. 

By Dennis Fischman

In her Dublin Murder Squad books, Tana French did the literary equivalent of lighting a candle from a candle: a minor character in Book 1 would turn up as the central figure of Book 2, and so on. The Somerville Public Library Mystery Book Club liked her writing so much, we unofficially dubbed ourselves the Boston Murder Squad!

Join East Somerville Main Streets this Saturday, July 27 from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. for a block party on Cross Street East.  Enjoy  food from Rincon Mexicano and Rise and Shine Coffee House, live music from FM Collective, storytelling, art, games and activities. They want to hear from you,  share your dreams about what you want to see in East Somerville. 

The City of Somerville and Pathway for Immigrant Workers will host a free virtual immigration legal information session for local employers and lower-wage workers on Tuesday, July 30, 2024, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The information session will share how small employers can sponsor lower-wage workers for employment-based permanent residency. Employers and workers will have the opportunity to schedule an individual assessment with Pathways for Immigrant Workers to determine eligibility to receive pro-bono legal representation.