create. support.
inspire.
inspire.
Congratulations to the 2012 Finalists!
Thank you to everyone who entered and participated in the WARI poetry challenge! Our volunteer editorial staff had a difficult task selecting from so many amazing poems. Our hats off to the "astonishing" poetic talent that abounds in Rhode Island, SE Massachusetts, and beyond!
Winning and Finalist poems will be published in a Special Edition Anthology, available at the Poetry Awards Brunch and The Poetry Loft website.
Don't miss the 2012 Finalists as they read their "astonishing" poems at the Poetry Awards Brunch on Saturday, June 9, at Luigi's Restaurant Banquet Room, 11 am- 2 pm.
Please join us for readings, food and music in celebration and support of our fellow poets! Visit the Registration page for for tickets.
Please Take a Bow --
Much Gratitude goes to Lisa Starr for inspiring us all with her Prompt and Poem, and her valuable service of time and talent as WARI Judge. A big Thank You to those who generously donated to the RI Food Bank/ Kids Cafe. It is very much appreciated.
And a special Thank You from the heart to our WARI Friends and Donors who are helping to make this RI literary event possible!
Poetry Awards Brunch
With Lisa Starr, Poet Laureate of Rhode Island
Enjoy Great Readings, Food, Music, Special Guests,
Book signing, Prizes and more!
Musical Performance by Notable Works
Saturday, June 9, 2012
11 am - 2pm
Luigi's Restaurant Banquet Room
Hartford Avenue, Johnston
Brunch Buffet: $15
Cost will be reimbursed for Winners
Seating is limited.
Questions? Email : info@thepoetryloft.org
To purchase tickets:
Complete and Return the Registration form with your check or money order before June 1. Tickets will be held for you and your guests at the door.
2ndAnnual
Write Across Rhode Island 2012
One Prompt One Poem One State
with participating RI schools and libraries
LISA STARR, POETRY JUDGE, Poet Laureate of Rhode Island
Submission Deadline: April 30, 2012
Join us for the Write Across Rhode Island (WARI) statewide poetry adventure! The goal is to inspire Rhode Islanders to write and read poetry, increasing literary skills, and unleashing the creative power of poetry in our daily lives. Imagine everyone writing to the same Prompt, reading and discussing the same Poem! You will be inspired by Lisa Starr’s Prompt and Poem which so aptly remind us of what Frost observed, that “poetry is a momentary stay against confusion.” We appreciate how difficult the writing process is and how close to the heart your poems are, and so we thank you all for your valued submissions!
Since the main focus of Write Across Rhode Island is not competition, but creativity and community spirit, we are happy to announce that this year WARI will benefit the RI Food Bank/Kids Café. WARI’s contest is free! But for those interested, we’re happy to add an Optional entry donation—you may submit $5 to the RI Community Food Bank with your poem. Each donation provides food to a child in need. Thank you!
***
ANNOUNCING
THE WRITE ACROSS RHODE ISLAND 2012 PROMPT
by Lisa Starr, Poet Laureate of Rhode Island
When is the last time you were astonished by something? When is the last time you awakened to the world as if seeing it for the first time? The sun on the water, the children in the park, the wheels on the yellow bus and how they really do go round and round? All of it, everyone and everything―remarkable and new―strangers on the street momentary companions on the long journey, road rage an immediate opportunity to practice forgiveness, and so on.
It’s a beautiful world out there that sometimes, like the rest of us, sometimes forgets its own beauty. For the 2012 Write Across Rhode Island poetry prompt, I dare you to be astonished by something. I dare you to wake up to the unique glory and texture of the people and communities and rugged land and seascape of Rhode Island, and with language, with poetry, remind the rest of us sleepers what we are missing.
For inspiration, read Lisa Starr's poem:
Prayer in April
for Millie and Orrin
Just this morning, right as
we clamored off to school,
in the driveway, the bird--
that startled baby bird....
He was so frightened he'd lost
his voice--his little feathered head
became more yellow with his quivering.
We three took turns holding him.
The complexicity of our awe
is what strikes me now, and I hope
I'll always remember it:
how we dropped to our knees;
how we took turns crading him;
how, for a moment, when he flew
we lost our voices, too.
Lisa Starr, WARI 2012 Poetry Judge
Rhode Island Poet Laureate, Lisa Starr is a two time recipient of the RI Fellowship for Poetry (2002, 2004) and the Nancy Potter Prize for Fiction from the University of Rhode Island. Lisa has three collections of poetry: Days of Dogs and Driftwood (1993), This Place Here (2001), and Mad With Yellow (2008). She is founder of the Ocean State Poets, a community outreach group providing workshops to teens and adults, as well as the underserved and those in nursing homes and prisons. She runs her hotel, Hygeia House Inn, which is home to the Block Island Poetry Project, a nationally acclaimed celebration of arts and humanity, now in its sixth year.
Winners in both Adult and Young Writer (Grades 9-12) categories will be announced at the Poetry Awards Brunch on June 9. There will be readings of the Winning and Finalist poems to an enthusiastic crowd, plus great food, special guests, prizes, and a musical performance by Notable Works.
Finalist and winning poems will be published in a Special Edition Anthology. Selected poems will be posted in participating schools and libraires, and online. Winning poets will also receive a 2012 Awards Plaque.
Adult Awards:
1st Place- $200 plus editorial consultation with
nationally acclaimed poet Denise Duhamel
2nd Place- $50
3rd Place- $50
Young Writer Awards:
1st Place- $200
2nd Place- $50
3rd Place- $50
Write Across Rhode Island Submission Guidelines
1. Poems must be unpublished and original, and follow the Prompt given b y Lisa Starr. Poems must not appear online.
2. Poems must be no longer than 60 lines.
3. One poem per participant.
4. Use 8 1/2" x 11 white paper, 12 point, Times New Roman.
5. Do not include name and other identifying information on the poem.
Poems will be judged anonymously.
6. Include name, address, phone, email, and title of poem on a separate cover page.
7. Teens (Grades 9-12): include your grade and school on the cover page.
8. If poem is longer than one page, write the title on both pages, and number the pages.
9. Mail your poem and cover page to:
The Poetry Loft
PO Box 8235
Cranston RI 02920
10. Results will be posted in June on The Poetry Loft website: www.thepoetryloft.org
11. The contest is Free! For those interested, we are accepting a $5 donation to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank/Kids Café. Make your check or money order payable to the RI Community Food Bank and submit with your poem. If donating in memory or in honor of someone, please include their name on the check memo line.
2011 EVENT
Congratulations to the Winners
of the "Writing Across Rhode Island"
2011 Poetry Challenge!
Our gratitude to Dr. Cathleen Calbert for her inspiring prompt and poem as well as volunteering her professional time and service as Judge of the competition.
The Winners and Honorable Mentions in both Categories were announced at the Poetry Awards Brunch held on May 15,2011 at the Papa-razzi Trattoria in Cranston, RI, followed by a reading of the winning poems to an enthusiastic crowd.
Adult:
1st Place, $200 Award: "What It Feels Like To Drown" by Sandra Moran
2nd Place, $100 Award: "What They Ask" by Kara Provost
Honorable Mention: "Joes Tells Isaac" by Maggie Stormot
Young Adult:
1st Place, $100 Award: "The Old Man in the Garden" by Brielle Manzolillo
2nd Place, $50 Award: "Conversation with Little Sister" by Helen Macdonald
Honorable Mention: Supper With Gramps by Kelsey Kairnes
Visit the LOFT Chapbook page to read the poems.
Visit our Home Page and Events Page
for more information on the
WARI Poetry Write-A-Thon
Photo by Kim Knox Beckius
***
ANNOUNCING
THE WRITE-A-THON PROMPT
by CATHLEEN CALBERT
Write a poem in the voice of someone
you know: your mother or your childhood
friend or the waitress at a local diner. Your choice!
Feel free to imagine what this person might say or to incorporate things you've heard the person say or to construct a poem made up entirely of the person's actual, now re-arranged, words. The trick, of course, is to take another's spoken language and to transform it into a poem. Happy Writing!
***
For inspiration, read
"Listening to My Mother in the
Alzheimer's Wing"
by Cathleen Calbert
These people are a little crazy.
Who's that singing ?
I loved all my babies.
It's like a movie.
You are the star in my sky.
How's your baby?
Is that my daughter on TV?
Is this really happening?
Don't you have a baby?
Are you having the same dream?
You look like you're barely eighteen.
Maybe you could still have a baby.
I had such a young mother.
I cried for years when she left me
on the farm with her grandmother
who killed chickens with her bare hands.
Who's going to come and get me?
Mine will be a very old baby.
You've been my best friend, Cathleen.
Could you help me find my dream?
(Poetry 2001)
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
A Reading Guide
by Cathleen Calbert
Professor of English at Rhode Island College
and author of three poetry collections: Lessons in Space (University of Florida Press), Bad Judgment (Sarabande Books), and Sleeping with a Famous Poet (CustomWords). Dr. Calbert's poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous publications including the Hudson Review, The New Republic, the Paris Review, Poetry, Ploughshares and Triquarterly. Her awards include The Nation Discovery Award, a Pushcart Prize, and the Tucker Thorp Professorship at Rhode Island College.
Why do you think the poem uses the spaces of the page as it does?
Why do you think there are so many questions?
What do you make of the motif of babies?
The inclusion of "TV" and "movies"?
What do you think the speaker's "dream" is?
Why do you think the poet included her own name in the poem?
Congratulations to the Winners
of the "Writing Across Rhode Island"
2011 Poetry Challenge!
Our gratitude to Dr. Cathleen Calbert for her inspiring prompt and poem as well as volunteering her professional time and service as Judge of the competition.
The Winners and Honorable Mentions in both Categories were announced at the Poetry Awards Brunch held on May 15,2011 at the Papa-razzi Trattoria in Cranston, RI, followed by a reading of the winning poems to an enthusiastic crowd.
Adult:
1st Place, $200 Award: "What It Feels Like To Drown" by Sandra Moran
2nd Place, $100 Award: "What They Ask" by Kara Provost
Honorable Mention: "Joes Tells Isaac" by Maggie Stormot
Young Adult:
1st Place, $100 Award: "The Old Man in the Garden" by Brielle Manzolillo
2nd Place, $50 Award: "Conversation with Little Sister" by Helen Macdonald
Honorable Mention: Supper With Gramps by Kelsey Kairnes
Visit the LOFT Chapbook page to read the poems.
Visit our Home Page and Events Page
for more information on the
WARI Poetry Write-A-Thon
Photo by Kim Knox Beckius
***
ANNOUNCING
THE WRITE-A-THON PROMPT
by CATHLEEN CALBERT
Write a poem in the voice of someone
you know: your mother or your childhood
friend or the waitress at a local diner. Your choice!
Feel free to imagine what this person might say or to incorporate things you've heard the person say or to construct a poem made up entirely of the person's actual, now re-arranged, words. The trick, of course, is to take another's spoken language and to transform it into a poem. Happy Writing!
***
For inspiration, read
"Listening to My Mother in the
Alzheimer's Wing"
by Cathleen Calbert
These people are a little crazy.
Who's that singing ?
I loved all my babies.
It's like a movie.
You are the star in my sky.
How's your baby?
Is that my daughter on TV?
Is this really happening?
Don't you have a baby?
Are you having the same dream?
You look like you're barely eighteen.
Maybe you could still have a baby.
I had such a young mother.
I cried for years when she left me
on the farm with her grandmother
who killed chickens with her bare hands.
Who's going to come and get me?
Mine will be a very old baby.
You've been my best friend, Cathleen.
Could you help me find my dream?
(Poetry 2001)
jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj
A Reading Guide by Cathleen Calbert
Professor of English at Rhode Island College
and author of three poetry collections: Lessons in Space (University of Florida Press), Bad Judgment (Sarabande Books), and Sleeping with a Famous Poet (CustomWords). Dr. Calbert's poetry and fiction have appeared in numerous publications including the Hudson Review, The New Republic, the Paris Review, Poetry, Ploughshares and Triquarterly. Her awards include The Nation Discovery Award, a Pushcart Prize, and the Tucker Thorp Professorship at Rhode Island College.
Why do you think the poem uses the spaces of the page as it does?
Why do you think there are so many questions?
What do you make of the motif of babies?
The inclusion of "TV" and "movies"?
What do you think the speaker's "dream" is?
Why do you think the poet included her own name in the poem?
Poetry Reading
Tom Chandler
Lisa Starr
Darcie Dennigan
with
Writing Across Rhode Island
Guest Participants reading
Write-A-Thon Poems
Saturday, April 30, 2011
1 PM - 2:30 PM
Providence Public Library
Barnard Room, 3rd floor
Come join us!
Free and open to the public.
Tom Chandler
Lisa Starr
Darcie Dennigan
with
Writing Across Rhode Island
Guest Participants reading
Write-A-Thon Poems
Saturday, April 30, 2011
1 PM - 2:30 PM
Providence Public Library
Barnard Room, 3rd floor
Come join us!
Free and open to the public.
TOM CHANDLERTom Chandler is poet laureate of Rhode Island emeritus. He has been named Phi Beta Kappa Poet at Brown University and has been a featured poet at the Library of Congress and the Robert Frost homestead. His poems have been read by Garrison Keillor on National Public Radio on several occasions. He has written commissioned poems for the State of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, and Providence's "Waterfire". He has twice been named inaugural Poet for Providence's mayoral inauguration. Tom is a columnist for the Providence Journal, Professor of Creaive Writing at Bryant University, and the founder and editor of Bryant Literary Review. His latest book is Toy Firing Squad.
Darcie Dennigan
Darcie Dennigan is the author of Corinna A-Maying the Apocalypse and the recipient of the Poets Out Loud Prize, Discovery/The Nation Award, and the Cecil Hemley Award from the Poetry Society of America. Her writings have been published in the Atlantic Monthly, Kenyon Review, Tin House and other journals. She is currently Poet-in-Residence at the University of Connecticut
Write-A-Thon 2011
Submission Guidelines:
1. Poems must be original and follow the
Prompt given by Cathleen Calbert.
2. Poems must be no longer than one page.
3. One poem per participant.
4. Poems must be typed on 8 1/2" x 11 "
white paper, 12 point, Times New Roman.
5. No previously written or published
poems.
6. Title and poem only on the front side of
the page. Do not include your name and
other identifying information on the front
of the page.
7. On the back of the poem page, include
name, address, phone, email, and title of
poem. Indicate the category you are
entering: Adult, or Young Adult (teen).
Optional: You may include comments
about the poem and/or a short Bio
or artist statement on the back side.
8. Submit your poem to any Participating
Library in person, by fax or mail.
Deadline: April 30.
9. Poems meeting the submission
guidelines will be displayed for public
viewing at Participating Libraries during
April, National Poetry Month.
10. All poems will be entered into the blind
Poetry Write-A-Thon Challenge in May
judged by Cathleen Calbert. Keep your
original copy - Poems will not be
returned.
11. Winning poems, finalist and honorable
mention poems will be eligible for
awards, readings and possible online
and print publication.
1st Prize: $200
2nd Prize: $100
3rd Prize: $50
Submission Guidelines:
1. Poems must be original and follow the
Prompt given by Cathleen Calbert.
2. Poems must be no longer than one page.
3. One poem per participant.
4. Poems must be typed on 8 1/2" x 11 "
white paper, 12 point, Times New Roman.
5. No previously written or published
poems.
6. Title and poem only on the front side of
the page. Do not include your name and
other identifying information on the front
of the page.
7. On the back of the poem page, include
name, address, phone, email, and title of
poem. Indicate the category you are
entering: Adult, or Young Adult (teen).
Optional: You may include comments
about the poem and/or a short Bio
or artist statement on the back side.
8. Submit your poem to any Participating
Library in person, by fax or mail.
Deadline: April 30.
9. Poems meeting the submission
guidelines will be displayed for public
viewing at Participating Libraries during
April, National Poetry Month.
10. All poems will be entered into the blind
Poetry Write-A-Thon Challenge in May
judged by Cathleen Calbert. Keep your
original copy - Poems will not be
returned.
11. Winning poems, finalist and honorable
mention poems will be eligible for
awards, readings and possible online
and print publication.
1st Prize: $200
2nd Prize: $100
3rd Prize: $50
AWARDS BRUNCH
WITH POET CATHLEEN CALBERT
Intro By RI AUTHOR ANN HOOD
Join us for
Poetry Readings, Book Fair, Music,
Food and Open Mic
Sunday May 15, 2011
9:30 AM-12 Noon
Papa-Razzi Trattoria
Garden City Center, Cranston
Free Mimosa, Coffee/Tea or Juice, and
Focaccia
Brunch includes your choice of:
Frittata, French Toast, Tuscan Eggs
Benedict, Bagels or English Muffins
(prices vary)
Reserve your seat by May 13
email info@thepoetryloft.org
Admission is free
Seating is limited - first come, first serve basis
WITH POET CATHLEEN CALBERT
Intro By RI AUTHOR ANN HOOD
Join us for
Poetry Readings, Book Fair, Music,
Food and Open Mic
Sunday May 15, 2011
9:30 AM-12 Noon
Papa-Razzi Trattoria
Garden City Center, Cranston
Free Mimosa, Coffee/Tea or Juice, and
Focaccia
Brunch includes your choice of:
Frittata, French Toast, Tuscan Eggs
Benedict, Bagels or English Muffins
(prices vary)
Reserve your seat by May 13
email info@thepoetryloft.org
Admission is free
Seating is limited - first come, first serve basis
30 Days of Poetic Adventure!
Submit Your Poem to a participating
RI Library near you:
Providence Public Library
150 Empire Street, Providence, RI 02903
Attention: Lisa Miller, Program Coordinator
fax: 455-8001
James P. Adams Library at Rhode Island
College
600 Mount Pleasant Avenue
Providence, RI 02908
Attn: Ellen Morais fax: 456-9646
Community College of Rhode Island -
Liston Campus
One Hilton Street, Providence, RI 02905
Attn: Laurie Sherman, Professor of
English/Faculty Offices 401-455- 6106
Liston Campus Library
Attn: Dusty Haller, Librarian/401-455- 6085 fax: 455-6087
CCRI Library
Flanagan Campus -
1762 Louissquisset Pike, Lincoln, RI 02865
Attn: Marla Wallace, Reference Librarian
401-333-7057
Warwick Public Library
600 Sandy Lane
Warwick, RI 02889
Attn: Andria Tieman fax: 738-1938
Rogers Free Library
525 Hope Street
Bristol, RI 02809
Attn: Thomas Tihen fax: 253-5270
Barrington Public Library
281 Country Road
Barrington, RI 02806
Attn: Debbie Barchi, Library Director
fax: 247-3763
Coventry Public Library
1672 Flat River Road
Coventry, RI 02816
Attn: Jane Schweinsburg fax: 822-9133
East Providence Public Library
Rumford Branch
1392 Pawtucket Avenue, Rumford RI 02916
Attn: Denise Inman fax: 435-4997
434-8559
East Providence Public Library
Weaver Library
41 Grove Avenue,
East Providence, RI 02914
434-2453
East Providence Library - Fuller Branch
260 Dover AVenue
East Providence, RI 02916
434- 1136
East Providence Library - Riverside Branch
475 Bullocks Point Avenue
East providence, RI 02915
433-4820
West Wawick Public Library
1043 Main Street
West Warwick, RI 02893
Attn: Maureen Delovio, Reference Dept.
fax: 828-8493
North Scituate Public Library
606 West Greenville Road
North Scituate, RI 02857
Attn: Rachael Stamp fax: 934-1051
North Kingstown Free Library
100 Boone Street
North Kingstown, RI 02852
Attn: Elizabeth Donovan, Outreach
Coordinator fax: 294-1690
Greenville Public Library
573 Putnam Pike
Greenville 02828
Attn: Dorothy Swain, Assistant
Director fax: 949-0530
Maury Loontjens Memorial Library
35 Kingston Road
Narragansett, RI 02879
Attn: Marilyn Sherman,
Adult Services Librarian fax: 782-0677
789-9507
Submit Your Poem to a participating
RI Library near you:
Providence Public Library
150 Empire Street, Providence, RI 02903
Attention: Lisa Miller, Program Coordinator
fax: 455-8001
James P. Adams Library at Rhode Island
College
600 Mount Pleasant Avenue
Providence, RI 02908
Attn: Ellen Morais fax: 456-9646
Community College of Rhode Island -
Liston Campus
One Hilton Street, Providence, RI 02905
Attn: Laurie Sherman, Professor of
English/Faculty Offices 401-455- 6106
Liston Campus Library
Attn: Dusty Haller, Librarian/401-455- 6085 fax: 455-6087
CCRI Library
Flanagan Campus -
1762 Louissquisset Pike, Lincoln, RI 02865
Attn: Marla Wallace, Reference Librarian
401-333-7057
Warwick Public Library
600 Sandy Lane
Warwick, RI 02889
Attn: Andria Tieman fax: 738-1938
Rogers Free Library
525 Hope Street
Bristol, RI 02809
Attn: Thomas Tihen fax: 253-5270
Barrington Public Library
281 Country Road
Barrington, RI 02806
Attn: Debbie Barchi, Library Director
fax: 247-3763
Coventry Public Library
1672 Flat River Road
Coventry, RI 02816
Attn: Jane Schweinsburg fax: 822-9133
East Providence Public Library
Rumford Branch
1392 Pawtucket Avenue, Rumford RI 02916
Attn: Denise Inman fax: 435-4997
434-8559
East Providence Public Library
Weaver Library
41 Grove Avenue,
East Providence, RI 02914
434-2453
East Providence Library - Fuller Branch
260 Dover AVenue
East Providence, RI 02916
434- 1136
East Providence Library - Riverside Branch
475 Bullocks Point Avenue
East providence, RI 02915
433-4820
West Wawick Public Library
1043 Main Street
West Warwick, RI 02893
Attn: Maureen Delovio, Reference Dept.
fax: 828-8493
North Scituate Public Library
606 West Greenville Road
North Scituate, RI 02857
Attn: Rachael Stamp fax: 934-1051
North Kingstown Free Library
100 Boone Street
North Kingstown, RI 02852
Attn: Elizabeth Donovan, Outreach
Coordinator fax: 294-1690
Greenville Public Library
573 Putnam Pike
Greenville 02828
Attn: Dorothy Swain, Assistant
Director fax: 949-0530
Maury Loontjens Memorial Library
35 Kingston Road
Narragansett, RI 02879
Attn: Marilyn Sherman,
Adult Services Librarian fax: 782-0677
789-9507
