Welcome to Three Decker
Welcome to Three Decker, a new literary journal published by the Worcester County Poetry Association (WCPA) for poets and authors in Worcester County, Massachusetts.
Since 1972, the WCPA has published The Worcester Review (TWR), celebrating the rich literary history of Central Massachusetts, enriching it with work from beyond that region, and serving as a conduit to share that richness with a national audience. It’s become a renowned, annual publication that draws in writers and poets and helps highlight local and national talent.
In recent years, Worcester’s literary scene has once again exploded. The Poet’s Cauldron just entered its third year in operation, leading the space for spoken word and slam poetry, combining those with music and visual arts. In just their first year, the Worcester Writers’ Collective has become a home to many local poets and writers from all genres. The Dirty Gerund‘s new documentary captures the fantastic atmosphere they create every week. The Clemente Course for the Humanities
All of that, to say nothing of the myriad of local writing groups, classroom projects, and more around the city and county.
There’s a lot of inspiration to draw from our own history in the WCPA as well. Twenty-five years ago, the WCPA published the bulk of The Issue, our own small literary magazine. An “occasional publication,” as two-time former editor and local poet Paul Szlosek called it. More about the process and his approach from the Winter 2000 issue of The Issue:
It’s been almost two years since Andy Hacanis first conceived of The Issue, this younger sister publication to The Worcester Review, with its primary focus on the poets and poetry of the Worcester County area. When Andy proposed his idea to the board of the Worcester County Poetry Association, it was heartily approved by every board member. Yet since all committees are made up of individuals, I’m sure each member had a separate vision of what The Issue should be. Some wanted it to exclusively publish the members of the W.C.P.A., while others thought it should be a forum open to anyone with the vaguest connection to the county and environs. Some held that the editorial standards should be high and strict as The Review’s, publishing only well crafted, polished work. Others liked the idea of a more informal, even lax journal, allowing everyone a voice no matter how accomplished or not. I confess I backed the latter concept, envisioning a printed version of an open stage poetry venue, sort of a paper coffeehouse.
Those similar conversations came around again. Last Summer, we pitched the idea internally to rekindle The Issue. Following Paul’s example, we led with the “paper coffeehouse” model — a compliment to The Worcester Review that would be less polished by design, publish more frequently (well, at least a little bit), could lend more space for local and emerging poets and writers, and help capture this bold moment in Worcester literary history. We’ve also digitized all those old hard copies of The Issue we could find, and will include them here as part of the archives. We want to bring that history with us, and there’s too much talent in those pages to just keep them on the shelves.
After some more internal work on the logistics, some holidays and life getting in the way, and a short “contest” to choose a name, we’re ready to open the doors. On that note, a special shoutout to local journalist and writer Kayti Burt for finding a name for us in “Three Decker.” We asked our community to help out, and dozens of people submitted over a hundred truly excellent ideas. Kayti’s idea spoke to us as something creative and connected to the city and our neighborhoods. It’s also a connection to the WCPA as well: Mary Pat True, local artist, writer, and wife of WCPA and TWR co-founder Mike True, created the “Worcester Three-Decker” poster in 1989.
The website is clearly pretty bare bones for now as we continue work on a final design and platform for our first issue in April, but we couldn’t wait any longer to get this process started. We’re ready now and genuinely excited to begin reading your submissions from anyone and everyone living, working, or attending school in Worcester County.
