“No person or organization has done more to keep art alive in Philadelphia than Larry Robin and Moonstone Arts Center. Larry is indefatigable, a bottomless well of energy and enthusiasm. I am especially grateful for his support of new voices and unheard voices and overlooked voices.”
– W. D. Ehrhart
“Sometimes, when I open your emails and read them, I feel such a profound relief and joy that you and Moonstone are close by and alive with the love for and need of poetry that so many of us feel. When I read your messages, I’m renewed in ways that I did not realize I needed.”
– Mary Brownell, Springside School
“Starting way back when, and setting the pace, Moonstone has been poetry’s wide open door in Philadelphia–the one gathering space most representative of our diverse population. Larry Robin and Moonstone have long been synonymous with free speech in this town, and the current threats to it make Moonstone’s survival all the more essential.”
–Eleanor Wilner
“For decades Moonstone with its many readings and events has provided a much-needed venue for Philadelphia poets and out of town poets, for fledgling poets and veterans of the poetry scene. By providing poets with a performance space and an audience, this organization has offered the kind of encouragement and support that keeps people writing, against the odds.”
– Jim Cory
“Moonstone has created the most inclusive, diverse, and deep community of poets and writers in this city, and no other institution has even tried to. We collectively owe much appreciation to Moonstone for its generosity of spirit and its breadth of vision. “
– Jeffrey Ethan Lee
“Just when we thought everything was lost, how great to watch the Moonstone empire rise from the ashes of Robin’s Books: a school, a continuing poetry venue, and a new life as a publisher of books!”
– Elaine Terranova
“As long as I have been a poet, there has been Larry Robin, an eternal flame burning in our city, a moonstone gem indeed. Kind of like west coast’s City Lights in San Francisco, Moonstone Arts Center (without a book store) is still alive and well on the east coast in Philadelphia promoting poetry, art, and continues to fight for better race relations and the ongoing struggles for women’s rights and anti-war. Last year alone, Larry Robin had over 90 reading events; and before Robin Book Store closed its doors at the end of 2012, he had over 300 readings in a two-year period. No matter what happens in the future, Larry Robin and Moonstone Arts Center will remain legendary in the Philadelphia art scene.”
– Diane Sahms-Guarnieri, a native Philadelphia poet
In response to Moonstone’s It Can’t Happen Here Anthology reading on Sunday January 31, 2021 – “What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The season’s first snow arriving as we heard, and watched, poem after poem, wonderfully read by poet after poet, lines to shout out about, lines to cut to the quick, lines to bring tears and laughter, all in the wake of an event that couldn’t happen/did happen here. A seismic even, given its awful due this afternoon. Moonstone rises again…”
– J.C. Sutton
In response to Moonstone’s Poetry Ink program – “… Nowhere else in Philly do we get such a wonderful mix of people, voices, and of generations, and it is an experience in the varieties of personalities as much as in poetry and poetics–everything from uplift to satire, from political protest to personal sorrow, love poems and tirades, transgression and decorum, the outrageous and the outraged, ranters and restrained formalists, street and academy, performance poets and shy ladies barely audible–pretty much the human spectrum. I loved listening…stayed a while, came back for more. … Only death is as great a leveler as Moonstone!”
– Eleanor Wilner, author of several collections of poetry, including: Tourist in Hell; The Girl with Bees in Her Hair; Reversing the Spell: New and Selected Poems; and numerous awards, including fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, the Juniper Prize, and two Pushcart Prizes
In response to Moonstone’s New Voices program – “I really think [poetry] can be used to help teens with issues. A lot of grown-ups don’t always understand what teenagers feel. Poetry is this super-raw form of expression [in which] teenagers can talk about the issues that they face.”
– Siduri Beckman, a fourteen-year-old student at Julia R. Masterman School and Philadelphia’s first Youth Poet Laureate (2013)
“Reader after reader, poet after poet, writers traveled from far and wide to pay homage to Dr. Sanchez as an educator and the originator of Black Studies on American college campuses. Sonia Sanchez has been a lifetime social activist and one of the original members of the Black Arts Movement (BAM). Even today, Dr. Sanchez is still an active pundit and member of social movements for human rights as a Granny Activist. As a writer and poet, Sanchez is the author of more than 20 books of poetry, plays and children’s literature and she is world-renowned as a role model for social activism in America…”
– Dr. Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, Giving Flowers While They Can Still Smell Them: Celebrating Dr. Sonia Sanchez
In response to Moonstone’s Haiku 2021 Anthology reading on April 17, 2021 – “I just wanted to say thank you for organizing the wonderful poetry reading event yesterday, and for inviting me to read my work in the company of so many gifted poets. The whole atmosphere was so supportive and friendly. It was a positive and uplifting experience for me, so a huge thank you and also to all your contributors.”
– Deirdre Maher
“I am delighted to have my Lavinia Llyod Dock poem included in Be Nasty. Ecstatic to have a suffrage image on the cover! Wonderful community of nasty women poets and friends. Thank you for the community and inspiration you create~”
– Susanna Rich
In response to Moonstone’s International Workers’ Day Anthology – “So honored to be included in this anthology. The topic is of such vital importance any year, but so greatly magnified by the stresses and challenges of COVID-19 especially for those who work to make lives safer, healthier and more compassionate, despite the setbacks. Moonstone Arts Center does a terrific job of melding common goals and aspirations with a deep appreciation of creative expression. Thanks for giving voice to many and helping make our planet a worthier place to call home.”
– Barbara Hobbie