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 an Award Ceremony and Reading, open to the public and attended by the celebrity judge and previous poets laureate to read with and welcome the newest member of their esteemed ranks.
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, and the annual Caesura Poetry Festival. They may also hold the office of “
2008 Poet Laureate – Elizabeth Rivers
Poet Laureate 2008
ELIZABETH RIVERS
Elizabeth Rivers has won the Milton Dorfman Poetry prize, 1999, and the Portland Pen Poetry contest, 2000, and has been published in various magazines. Chosen as the Montgomery County Poet Laureate, PA for 2008 by Marie Howe, she is also the 2009 winner of the Robert Fraser Open Poetry competition sponsored by Bucks County Community College.
He personal passion is to celebrate poetry writing by children. She helps sponsor youth contests in her area, helps publish children’s poetry online, and works with teachers and students. Please check out PoetryWITS (Writers in the Schools), a website sponsored by the Montgomery County Poet Laureate program under the guidance of Joanne Leva.
Reviews for ‘Colors of the Universe’:
“Oh, this is better than I thought it would be!” ~ Author’s husband
“In “First Dust, Star Dust,” Elizabeth Rivers writes: “Still, mystery’s here: dark clouds that cool the universe enough/ to let small stars like ours condense and wear/ their furious light.” In the lovely play of that verb “wear,” we sense the intelligence of Rivers’ poetry: there is a wide and rich universe condensed in these short verses. I know of no other poet who brings such humanity and gentle humor to the disturbing recognition of our temporary situation in this universe.” ~ Christopher Bursk
“In perhaps the finest poem, “Unleaving,” Rivers begins with an image of autumn–rose-red circle fell on my lawn, all untied maple leaves,” then moves to “crisis time, darkness and ice” when “the maple prunes itself” and concludes with this observation and question: “no treason’s done when trees lose leaves; what of my death, that certain fall…Who will keep my rose, my green?” Indeed, it is the reader who benefits from this honest questioning, this fierce clarity, this need to find meaning.” ~ Marie Kane, Survivors in the Garden
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Poets Laureate
