Both women are New York poets, though Frohman now lives in Philadelphia and Spears Jones is originally from Arkansas. Frohman’s poetry has appeared in the New York Times, and she’s performed at the White House. Last year, she staged her first one-woman show, “Esto No Tiene Nombre,” which means “this has no name,” in Philadelphia. Spears Jones is currently New York’s state poet and is the author of several books. In her more than 50-year career, her work has been anthologized and received numerous awards. She’s taught at the City University of New York, Barnard College and Adelphi University.

Frohman began her reading Friday with a poem that she wrote during a monthlong residency in 2019 at the Blue Mountain Center in Blue Mountain Lake, “City Kid Pastoral.” She said that the time she spent writing in the Adirondacks was a new experience for her.

“Out of 20 fellows, I was the only fellow who used the safety whistle to return back to their cottage at night because I was very, very afraid. As a city kid in public school (in) New York City, I didn’t go to the Adirondacks,” she said. “It’s one of the most remote places.”

After the reading, Frohman said that she cherishes her visits to the Adirondacks.

Denice Frohman reads a poem at the kickoff of the Kicka** Writers Festival in Saranac Lake on Friday. (Enterprise photo — Sydney Emerson)

“I think one of the things that I really appreciate is the invitation to feel embodied, the invitation to slow down. I think those are things that are really important that create portals and space for writers to create and think. I feel drawn to the Adirondacks,” she said. “I really love how tight-knit the community is here.”

Community became an unofficial theme of the night, between Frohman’s poetry about her childhood in New York and the diasporic community in Puerto Rico, where her mother is from, and Spears Jones’ poetry from her most recent book, “The Beloved Community,” inspired by her Brooklyn neighborhood and modern America.

Introducing Spears Jones, ACW Program Manager Tyler Barton emphasized the ways in which communities — from teachers and coaches to politicians and journalists — affect a writer’s work.

“The room the writer sits in, even if technically by themselves, is full to bursting with the presence of others,” he said. “Patricia Spears Jones understands this, and it’s why her poems are so communal, open, conversation and inspired.”

Throughout her wide-ranging reading, Spears Jones shared poems from across her career, including the titular poem of “The Beloved Community.” Set in a laundromat, the poem depicts the moment a woman belatedly learns about the death of another community member. Spears Jones echoed Barton’s statement, saying that poets are in conversation with other poets and artists as well as the wider community that surrounds them.

“I love what Patricia said,” Frohman said. “For me, poetry always lives in community. I think that it’s not just the poems that excite me and that have saved me, but the community that came with poetry when I needed it at a time when I was figuring out who I was.”

Frohman brought another community into conversation at the end of her reading, finishing the poem “If I Must Die” by Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Dec. 6, 2023.

“If I must die, / you must live / to tell my story,” the poem reads. “If I must die / let it bring hope / let it be a tale.”

Sharing another writer’s work is a “beautiful thing” and a way to build community, Frohman said.

“It’s incredibly important for us to take a principled stance for life and, particularly for myself as someone with Jewish heritage, I feel like Jewish safety and Palestinian freedom are not things that contradict each other but things that are deeply intertwined,” she said. “I think that’s what poetry does: it invites us to reflect, it invites us to be more human.”

This was the second Kicka** Writers Festival hosted by ACW. The first was in August 2022 and featured authors Ayad Akhtar, Willie Perdomo, Russell Banks, Chase Twitchell, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado, Gwen Kirby and Greg Barris. This year’s festival, which took place on Friday and Saturday, featured Frohman, Spears Jones, Megan Mayhew Bergman, Greg Edwards, GennaRose Nethercott alongside a slew of local authors and other faculty members.

The festival offered both public and limited-registration events, with spots available for attendees to workshop their writing with visiting authors throughout the day on Saturday.

In the Harrietstown Town Hall on Saturday, a public book fair showcased the work of New York small presses, independent authors — including author and former Enterprise reporter Christopher Mele — and literary organizations. The book fair was followed by a regional author showcase, during which local authors shared their work and inspirations. The evening ended with a ticketed reading by Mayhew Bergman and Nethercott, then a stand-up set by Edwards and Tracy Dolan, hosted by Nathan Hartswick.