In a little town next to the Hudson River, there lies an energetic and thriving space for poets to come together and share their works. With 11,514 residents living in Dobbs Ferry, there are people willing to create poetry and make spaces for sharing work.
On Saturday, Oct. 26, the Dobbs Ferry Library hosted its “Women and Passion” poetry reading in which older, female poets living in the Hudson Valley and New York City area read their poems, demonstrating that it’s never too late to write poetry.
At the event, poets dove into topics focusing on body image and the personal struggle of aging and yet still wanting to be desired.
Susanna H. Case, one of the featured poets at the Dobbs Ferry Library, said,
As a New York City resident, Case also mentioned her concern with poetry venues – bars and cafes – that have been shut down all over the city. In addition to this obstacle, new pre-screening rules for poets have been enforced in New York City libraries, challenging the speakers at these events.
“Libraries also now have instituted new policies where you have to go through a background check to [read at poetry readings] at all the New York Public Libraries, so that’s also created new issues that didn’t exist before.”
Sally Bliumis-Dunne, another poet present at the reading, spoke about how powerful post-reading dialogues are. She said, “People sharing their experiences of aging or their experiences about what people are writing about and why, you don’t get that unless you come together as people.” Bliumis-Dunne continued,
Darren Wood, English teacher and poetry advocate on the Masters campus, said, “There’s a small group of people who are really committed to doing what they’re doing in Dobbs Ferry and I think Masters plays a cool role in supporting that work, particularly the Poetry Festival.”
Jim Fabian ‘26, is a member of Outspoken, the poetry performing group that also presents at the Westchester Poetry Festival. He explained that he thinks poetry at Masters and in Dobbs Ferry has created and strengthened relationships for him in school.
“Outspoken is like a community where we all try to lift each other up and try to help each other grow. So I feel like, had I not done [Outspoken] or pursued [Outspoken], I don’t think I would have ever done something like the Westchester Poetry Festival at Masters,” he said.
Last year’s Poetry Festival was in April. This year’s Westchester Poetry Festival date for 2026 has not yet been announced.
