“Worcester looked at its bruises, its tenderness, its bad decisions and good hearts, and said yeah — this deserves a poet who knows how to touch the wound without flinching,” says Dirty Gerund co-organizer Nark Lizard. “Nic Jean Turner doesn’t polish the city, they testify for it. Lust, grief, survival, humor, divinity hiding in dive bars and side streets — every line feels earned. This isn’t a title handed out for quiet compliance; it’s a crown given to someone who tells the truth loud, strange, and beautiful. Canonized by coffee stains, Ralph’s Rock Diner grilled cheeses, late-night confessions, and the audacity to love a city exactly as it is. From Dirty Gerund Iron Poet to poet laureate, Worcester chose right.”

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