MRA Café-Coffee and Conversations
Welcome to the June updates of the Massachusetts Reading Association. MRA Café is a monthly publication that connects our members, inspires joyful collegiality, shares insights into literacy education, and celebrates success stories.
June Reading Challenge
The Boyden Library (click here for more information) has provided the following June reading challenge book list! How many can you read this month?
“One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.”
Call for Submissions
The MRA Beacon: Journal of Literacy and Learning is seeking research or articles that highlight ways to extend literacy learning beyond the walls of the classroom and into the community at-large. The deadline to submit for the 2024 edition is August 1, 2025. See this link for more details and manuscript guidelines.
2026 MRA Conference on the Horizon
Save the date for the 55th Annual Massachusetts Reading Conference, Literacy and Learning: Connection Classrooms and Communities, to be held April 9-10, 2026, at the Boston Marriott Newton Hotel in Newton, MA.
We are excited to let you know that the 2026 Call for Session and Author Proposal Forms are available. Please submit by July 15, 2025.
MRA Community Spotlight
Celebrating educators that are making a difference in the world of literacy.
Nicole Kingdon
It was announced at the MRA 2025 Conference that Nicole was selected as the recipient of the Donald L. Landry Graduate Award.
Nicole majors in Education Studies- Language and Literacy Education at Boston University. In addition, Nicole is a Graduate Research Fellow at the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development at Boston University.
Congrats, Nicole!
We had a blast at the MRA’s Thursday night After Hours Celebration event during the 2025 Conference!
We celebrated, we danced, we had a good time. Being part of the Massachusetts Reading Association means being apart of a larger family. When you are with us, you make new friends, learn new strategies, and make life-long connections.
Upcoming Events and Programming
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With a scholarship to our Virtual Mentorship Program, an expert educator will help you to build a classroom that’s sustainable for you and meets every learner’s needs.
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Sunday June 1, 2025 10:15am - 11:15amEDT
25 years of the Massachusetts Book Awards in Poetry! This event will feature six incredible award-winning poets who will read selections from their work, dive into the craft of poetry, and share some of their favorite poetry collections. Whether you're a long-time poetry lover or just curious about the genre, this event promises to inspire and spark new thoughts. Visit the website by clicking here.
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Author Talk with Elizabeth Graver
Sunday, June 8 2:00—4:00 PM Nantasket Beach Resort45 Hull Shore Dr, Hull, MA, 02045
Join Elizabeth Graver as she discusses her book "Kantika," which is a multigenerational novel inspired by the author's grandmother, following a Sephardic Jewish family's journey from Istanbul to Barcelona, Havana, and ultimately New York, exploring themes of displacement, cultural preservation, and women's strength. This program is sponsored by the Mass Book Awards Speakers Bureau and is presented in collaboration with the Massachusetts Center for the Book.
For more information click here.
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Lit Crawl returns! Come join your fellow bookworms and bibliomaniacs for a night of irreverent literary adventure and mayhem in unexpected spaces across Union Square. From 6-9pm, intrepid readers and curiosity seekers choose from a variety of unique events, including games, fusion performances, provocations, and other delightful oddities.
To learn more click here.
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Watertown Savings Bank Room (1st floor) Watertown Free Public Library 123 Main St, Watertown, MA, 02472
Join the Watertown Free Public Library for a special event with Mass Book Award-Honoree Kim McLarin! McLarin will read from and discuss her powerful essay collection, Everyday Something Has Tried to Kill Me and Has Failed: Notes from Periracial America.
With accumulated wisdom and sharp-eyed clarity, award-winning author Kim McLarin addresses the joys and hardships of being an older Black woman in contemporary America. Drawing from deeply personal experiences, these powerful essays illuminate the pain and power of aging, Blackness and feminism, and capture the endless cycle of progress and backlash that continues to shape race and gender. McLarin offers much needed insights into the troubled social landscape of today.
This program is sponsored by the Mass Book Awards Speakers Bureau and is presented in collaboration with the Massachusetts Center for the Book.
Books will be available for purchase from Belmont Books.
Kim McLarin is the author of three critically-acclaimed novels, several essay collections and the bibilomemoir James Baldwin’s Another Country: Bookmarked. Her last essay collection, Womanish, was called “blisteringly honest, funny and vulnerable” by The New York Times, and was excerpted in The Washington Post. Her work has appeared in the New England Review, the Sewanee Review, The Sun Magazine, The Root, Slate, The Washington Post, The New York Times and many other publications. She is a former staff writer for The Associated Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The New York Times. She appears regularly on Basic Black, the longest running program on public television focusing on the interests of people of color, produced at WGBH. McLarin is Professor of Creative Writing at Emerson College.
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The Watertown Free Public Library does not discriminate and does not share your information with anyone. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodation to enable you to participate in our events. Contact the library at afry@watertown-ma.gov or 617-972-6436 at least two weeks before an event to arrange for modification.
For more information click here.
A Month of Literacy!
Take a look at the June 2025 calendar of literacy ideas for each day! This was presented and offered by Demco Ideas and Inspirations. You can read more about their ideas by clicking here.
Thank you for your dedication to literacy. Together, we can ensure every student becomes a confident and capable reader, writer, and learner.
MRA information
The Massachusetts Reading Association is a professional non-profit organization of individuals whose primary purpose is to improve the quality and level of literacy in the state of Massachusetts. The MRA is affiliated with the International Literacy Association (ILA), a worldwide literacy organization. Our Mission The mission of the Massachusetts Reading Association is to promote literacy for all learners through professional development, research, publications, and advocacy.