The Kellogg-Hubbard Library, host of PoemCity 2021, is happy to announce the winners of the PoemCity Poetry Contest. The contest had over 100 entries, 40 coming from poets submitting to PoemCity for the first time, including two of the winners. The judges were poets Samantha Kolber, Scudder Parker, and Judith Chalmer. The winning poems are displayed at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, on the library website, and pocket- size prints are available as part of Curbside Poetry, available anytime the library is open for curbside pickup.
PoemCity 2021 Poetry Contest Winners are:
1st Place: “Love Poem” by Lizzy Fox
2nd Place: “Pandemic” by Nadell Fishman
3rd Place: “Autumn Voices/The Other Language” by Kiev Rattee
Honorable Mentions go to (in alphabetical order by author):
“Reckless Singer Manifesto” by Heather Stearns
“Rooted” by Anayo Veil
“Drifting” by Emily A. Wills
The library will also print six poems submitted by children, including a 1st place winner for children’s poems, “Anything For You.” by Union Elementary student Krishna Daggula.
PoemCity is the Kellogg-Hubbard Library’s celebration of National Poetry Month now in its 12th year. Nearly 400 poems are on display in storefront windows in downtown Montpelier for the month of April and nearly 20 programs are scheduled through Zoom. See https://www.kellogghubbard.org/poemcity for more information and to register for programs.
Poet and visual artist, JC Wayne, led an online workshop to make children’s PoemCity poems into public art. Poems were made into origami and turned into a mobile using branches and other reclaimed materials. It now hangs outside Kellogg-Hubbard Library. It is part of ArtWalk Montpelier in April along with Poetry StoryWalk®.
Poetry StoryWalk® creator Anne Ferguson was generously granted permission to use the work of Mary Oliver and Wendell Berry. She also enlisted area photographers and artists to submit artwork to accompany every phrase of each poem. One of the poems by Mary Oliver is posted on the library grounds for all to enjoy.
As poems went up in windows for this year’s PoemCity, we heard the comment over and over: “We need this!” Last year, just as the poems were about to be delivered and programs to start, the pandemic shut the town down and PoemCity was put on hold. The poems on display now were held over from 2020 and, after a long year, poets can finally see their poems on display.