Montgomery County Poets Laureate
The Annual Montgomery Poet Laureate Competition is the foundation upon which the MCPL Program was built. The competition is the ultimate expression of the program’s mission; creating an ever expanding community of poets, supporting their work and providing opportunities for poets to elevate their visibility while also benefiting the community with their service project, many of which continue long beyond their tenure.
How does the competition work?
Each year MCPL recruits a celebrity poet with a national reputation, who along with two additional local Delaware Valley poets, adjudicate the submitted manuscripts.
The newly selected Montgomery County Poet Laureate is honored with an award in the amount of $500 along with a personalized statement about their work, which is shared through MCPL and other local organizations.
The Award is presented during the LitLife event at Rosemont College in Bryn Mawr. The winner will be given an opportunity to read their work and speak to the audience composed of attendees of the day’s event which also features workshops and poetry readings including a Poetry Workshop conducted by the Celebrity Judge of the competition.
Who can compete?
Poets of all ages and backgrounds are encouraged to submit their poetry for review and adjudication in the annual competition. Poets must also be residents of Montgomery County. The window for submissions generally opens in early December and closes mid-February with the winner to be announced at the end of March.
The role of the Poet Laureate
The Poet Laureate functions as an ambassador for poetry in Montgomery County from April 1 of the year of his/her naming to March 31st of the following year. This role includes working with MCPL’s Executive Director, Joanne Leva, to develop a schedule of readings, workshops
Appearances may include the Forgotten Voices Poetry Group, Farley’s Bookshop First Thursday Poetry Reading Series, the Philadelphia Poetry Festival and the Philadelphia Writers’ Conference. The Poet Laureate is asked to attend LitLife (both the year they are named, as well as the following year to discuss the experience). They may also hold the office of “
2020 Poet Laureate – David Gaines
Poet Laureate 2020
David Gaines
David Gaines is a writer, actor and educator born and raised in uptown Philadelphia. As a product of a traditional baptist household and a child of hip-hop culture, Dave uses his poetry to analyze and unpack how the performance of religion and gender intersect within his personal life and the greater Black community.
In 2017 he graduated with a BA in English from the Pennsylvania State University, where he became the first poet to perform at the IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon (THON), won Best Poet at the Penn State Music Awards, and performed for household names such as MC Lyte and Nia Long. One year later he won multiple championship titles including 2017 College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) Champion, 2018 Fuze Poetry Slam Champion, 2018 Philly Pigeon Champion, and ranked 4th in the nation in the 2018 Individual World Poetry Slam. In 2019, he toured over 20 colleges nationwide and began coaching the University of Pennsylvania’s 2020 CUPSI team.
On any given day, you can find Dave working on his debut chapbook, soft boy, or trying to break into the elusive world of professional yo-yo.
This collection took me back to childhood Sundays spent balancing duty and passion on the pews of a church. These poems slay demons of toxic masculinity, racism, and generational trauma. In this work, there is a yearning to be as free from social constructs as the goldfish that has leapt out of the bowl. And in the yearning is a voice that is coming home as much as it is breaking away.
2021 Celebrity Judge – Ernest Hilbert
David Gaines knows it’s hard to explore your creative voice when you’re worried about paying the bills. That’s why the Montgomery County Poet Laureate supports his community outreach project to help other poets and writers pay their bills.
Past Poets Laureate
