Sidewalk and Other Poetry
As soon as I finish this post, I’ll be working on my poem. Read here, those who live, work, or play in Lebanon, and then give a try at crafting some verse. Your work could end up being published—on a town sidewalk.
Lebanon Artways invites submission of original poems for its poetry contest. Judges will select the top poems which will be stamped in sidewalks in the community. Here are the details:
Poems should be a maximum of 275 characters including spaces. Poems will be broken into lines to fit on the selected sidewalk spaces (estimated around 30 characters, including spaces, per line) if they are not already.
Each person may submit a maximum of 2 poems.
Poems should be appropriate for a general audience as they will be seen by a range of people and will be presented by the City of Lebanon and Lebanon ArtWays.
To submit poetry, please complete the form at bit.ly/lebartwayspoetrycontest. Poems may be submitted in any language, but the literal English translation must also be provided if the poem is not in English. All poems must be typed. Poems will be accepted through June 30, 2022, by 11:59 PM EST. and will be judged starting in July.
Further information can be found here.
April is National Poetry Month. In keeping with tradition, both Bradford and Randolph, Vermont are among the towns that have the poetic confections of Vermonters displayed throughout the local landscape. Randolph, in its 9th year of PoemTown, has already hosted readings at the Silloway Sugarhouse by farmer-poets Taylor Katz of Free Verse Farm in Chelsea and Jim Schley of Strafford. On April 13, poets Pamela Ahlen and Anne Bower will read from their new collection, and Danny Dover will offer new and old poems at the White River Craft Center. At Chandler Center for the Arts, there will be a poetry open mic on April 18, and Aaron Marcus & Sam Sanders will present spoken word with piano on April 28. More info about Randolph, including a directory of poets/locations, is here. For a history of PoemTown in Bradford, please click here.
Woodstock, too! At the Norman Williams Public Library, Poetry Month is being celebrated by at least two events:
RECITE! Original & Favorite Poems
Tuesday, April 12, 5:30 pm, online via zoom
Professionals, amateurs & first-timers all welcome to share poems -- original or favorites by others. Or just login, listen & enjoy. We meet monthly on the 2nd Tuesday at 5:30 pm. (Online now, in person when the library is open for gatherings).
PoetTree
We invite poets of all ages to add a "leaf” of verse to the poetry tree set up in our lobby during April. Blank leaves are available to write down your poetic words – silly or serious, anything you wish… The form might be haiku or limerick, free verse or acrostic – you choose.
Please email programs@normanwilliams.org for more information and for the link to join Recite!
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Welcome! You’re reading Artful, a blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley, and I hope you’ll subscribe and then share this with your friends and on your social media.
And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.