Thank You, Whatcom County!
May 11, 2012
What a wonderful evening of poetry and celebration. The awards ceremony for the 7th Annual Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest was fun, delicious and inspiring. The poems selected by judges Betty Scott and Jeffrey Morgan were filled with astute reflection, humor and well-honed language. Plus, they were read beautifully by the poets.
The dome room at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal was packed with an attentive audience. Through the windows that served as a backdrop to the poets, the audience was treated to a view of a perfect May evening, across Bellingham Bay all the way to the snowy peaks of Canada.
There’s more to come… The event was podcast by poet Boris Schleinkofer and we’ll post a link to the podcast soon. In the coming months, most of the winning poets will be taped for broadcast by Bellingham TV 10 and their readings will be shown between other programming on the local station and also posted on YouTube, with links on this page.
By about July, we expect to have the Walk Award plaques completed for installation in front of the Bellingham Public Library, and the colorful placards, designed by Egress Studio, delivered to Whatcom Transportation Authority for their year-long bus tour around the county. We’ll be posting the placards on this site as well and they’ll be linked to the poems listed on the Winners page.
We’re extremely grateful to our judges, donors (both $ and in-kind) audience and planning committee. And we’re especially grateful to all of the poets throughout Whatcom County who submitted poems to the contest, whether or not they were selected as winners.
We’ll offer a little more gratitude in a coming post, but for the moment, special thanks to Dean Kahn and photographer Andy Bronson from The Bellingham Herald, who covered last night’s event and were inadvertently left off the thank-you list.
Thank you, one and all…and congratulations for participating in and supporting this wonderful community event!
—–
chapbook of winning poems designed by Ellie Rogers
cover photo of Mt. Shuksan © Marc Griffin
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Children’s Book Week, May 7-13
May 7, 2012
Today marks the beginning of Children’s Book Week, the national celebration of books and reading for youth.
This nationwide event has a vibrant presence locally, with a robust lineup of events scheduled at Village Books:
Monday, May 7, 10am-8:30pm: Children’s Book Week Kick-Off!
Tuesday, May 8, 10:30am & Thurs., May 10, 10:30am: Preschool Story Time & Craft with Christina
Friday, May 11, 6pm: Local Author Showcase with Laurie O’Keefe (Gopher to the Rescue), Carol S. Hervin (Boots: Boots Finds a New Home) & Cheryl Larcom (Hang on Adam Apple)
Saturday, May 12, 11am: David Westerlund (Simone Goes to the Market)
Saturday, May 12, 4pm: Kids Open Mic Reading
This week also offers several performances of a don’t-miss musical by Chad Henry based on the iconic children’s book, Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd, playing at the Firehouse Performing Arts Center. Tickets — $10 general and $5 for students — are available at both Community Food Co-ops, Piper Music on Meridian, Village Books and at the door.
The Whatcom County Library System also has a variety of events scheduled. Check your local bookstores and libraries for additional events.
Celebrate. Enjoy books. Read aloud with your kids. It could be habit-forming.
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Contest update…
April 18, 2012
Congratulations, Whatcom County, for another fine showing of poetic creativity. Our illustrious judges, Betty Scott and Jeffrey Morgan, have read each and every poem and met the challenge: to choose a slate of winners from the nearly 300 poems submitted.
To see what “nearly 300″ poems looks like, stop by the Bellingham Public Library between now and May 9 and take a look at the display (near the Reference Desk). Impressive!
To help this year’s winners celebrate, and to hear them read their poems, please join us at the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest awards ceremony on Thursday, May 10, 2012, 7:00pm, at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal in Fairhaven. It’s free.
Following the awards ceremony, we’ll begin posting the winning poems on this site and linking each poem to its name on the Winners page.
Meanwhile, please extend your congratulations to the 2012 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest winners: Kari Galbraith, Bob Hicks, Peter Howard-Snyder, William Howard-Snyder, David M. Laws, Carole MacRury, Sheila Nickerson, Judy Orvik, Cindi Williamson, Margarethe Zubler-Keller, Finnigan Cooper, Don Cramer, Ella Denham-Conroy, Denise duMaurier, Carly Eathorne, Maria Frazey, Jacob Hartsoch, Andrew Shattuck McBride, Wendy McLeod, Ali Morrow, Nicola Morrow, Jon A. Orvik, Théa Rosenburg, George Such and Elizabeth Vignali.
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April!
April 1, 2012
We received a wonderful collection of poems that will be sure to give our two judges a lively challenge over the coming weeks. The quality of poems was exceptional and we are deeply grateful to all the poets who courageously submitted their work, and to the families and teachers that encouraged them. Winning poets will be notified by phone (if a phone number was provided) by Friday, April 20, 2012.
If you believe in community poetry and would like to support the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest, we urge you to join us on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, at the delectable Taste for Poetry, our annual fundraising dinner. The kitchen wizards at Ciao Thyme will serve up five courses of culinary delights and the multi-talented Carolyn McCarthy will regale us with poetry and song. A limited number of seats at the table are still available through Brown Paper Tickets.
Meanwhile, no Fooling, today is the first day of National Poetry Month and National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo). Will you accept the challenge?
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tick…tock…tick…tock…
March 30, 2012
The deadline looms. You wait till the pressure becomes intolerable.
It’s time, poets. Get it together. Check the guidelines and submit your poem. Of course we’re talking about the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest (poems must be received by 5:00pm tomorrow, Saturday, March 31, 2012), but there’s more!
Saturday, March 31, 2012, is also the deadline for…
Crab Creek Review, the Seattle-based print journal.
The Postcard Press, a micropress publishing one very short story or poem each month in the form of a 4″ x 6″ postcard. Theme for this issue: lies I almost believe.
Switchback flash contest (500 words or less) on the subject, “Three men walk into a bar.”
Spillway, a print journal published by Tebot Bach, on the theme, “Games people play.”
Want more literary publication deadlines? Have a look at the theme and deadline calendar on Duotrope.
Don’t mail that poem!
March 28, 2012
WAIT! Don’t mail that poem!
If you haven’t mailed your poem yet, please don’t take a chance of missing the deadline — 5:00pm, Saturday, March 31, 2012. All poems must be received by that time.
Mail delivery is slower these days, but you still have time to hand deliver your poem to Mindport Exhibits, 210 W. Holly Street, in downtown Bellingham. Mindport is open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from Noon to 5:00pm and Saturday from 10:00am to 5:00pm.
We look forward to reading your poem!
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mailbox
first day of Spring…
March 20, 2012
Spring Fall*
By Johanna Landis
2006 Merit Award
Naïve, pinkly fresh to a fault,
cherry blossoms fluff themselves.
Blinking wide-eyed petals,
they clump together
like high school girls headed
for the bathroom.
Unbeknownst to them,
their bloom will be quick,
their fall in still-early spring.
The prettiest ones
learn best.
*Copyright 2006 by Johanna Landis. This poem appears in POETRY WALK: Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest – The First Five Years. Placard design by Egress Studio.
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show some love for community poetry…
March 19, 2012
- ‘Like’ this post (or any/every post!).
- Follow this blog by e-mail or RSS feed.
- Leave a Comment.
- ‘Like’ Sue Boynton Poetry Contest on Facebook, Like our posts, join in the conversation.
- Talk about the contest on your own website or blog and add links to this site and our Facebook page.
- Submit a poem (if you live in Whatcom County, WA) by March 31 and encourage your friends, family members and students to do the same.
- Print and post the contest guidelines on the bulletin board at your workplace, school, gym, grocery store, place of worship or favorite coffee shop. (See the 2012 Contest page for printable guidelines.)
- Reserve your place at the table now (while there still is one!) for our delicious fundraising dinner, Taste for Poetry, Tuesday, April 17, 2012.
- Make a tax-deductible donation. Make your check payable to Whatcom Poetry Series (note Boynton on the memo line) and mail it to Poetry Contest, P.O. Box 1192, Bellingham, WA 98227. Donations in any amount are appreciated. Donations of $100 or more will be acknowledged for a year on a plaque in front of the Bellingham Public Library.
- Buy a copy of Poetry Walk.
- Attend a poetry event, listen to poetry, read your own. (And leave a Comment if you have a Washington state poetry event to add to the calendar.)
- Visit the downtown Bellingham Public Library and read the poetry plaques on the Sue Boynton Poetry Walk. Grab a copy of the guidelines, inside at the reference desk, while you’re there.
- Attend the free public awards ceremony at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal on Thursday, May 10, 2012, at 7:00pm.
The Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest is a program of Whatcom Poetry Series, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Thank you for supporting poetry in our community!
—–
Photo by Katie Humes
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the meaning of RECEIVED…
March 18, 2012
Attention poets! If you plan to submit a poem to the Sue Boynton Poetry Contest, please note that your poem must be received by 5:00pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012. If you will be mailing your poem, please allow plenty of time — delivery times have lengthened with recent changes to the post office processing centers. You may hand-deliver your poem to Mindport Exhibits, 210 West Holly, in downtown Bellingham, but their doors close (and poems will be collected) at 5:00pm on Saturday, so don’t be late!
Poems that are received after the deadline will be disqualified.
In fact, the contest committee is extremely grateful to poets who submit early. It allows us time to enjoy the poems as we process the entries for judging.
All of the poems will be submitted to the judges at one time and winning poets will be notified by phone (if a correct phone number is provided) by Friday, April 20.
Please review the guidelines, count lines and characters carefully and send us your poem — soon!
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calendar
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reminder…
March 13, 2012
Read the guidelines.
Write a poem.
Send it in.
Easy.
