18th Annual Juried Poetry Coffeehouse Reading
Once again, our annual Juried Poetry Competition Reading was a rousing success! Well over 100 friends and aficionados packed the Allied Arts Coffeehouse (aka - the basement) for an evening of poetry, refreshments, and conversation.
Emcee Ed Stover said the evening was a comfortable mix of familiar and new. "The quality of the poetry was excellent. There were some familiar faces among the winners but there were new people as well."
The winners of this year's competition are:
⁃ Dan Peters, awarded First Place
⁃ Sarah Augustine, awarded Second Place
⁃ Terry Martin, awarded Third Place
⁃ Philip Emmanuel Roberts, receiving the Tom Pier Prize
⁃ Don Berk, awarded the Humor prize
In addition, ten poets received honorable mention: Dotty Armstrong, Dustin J. Becker, W.D. Frank, Randie Gottlieb, Irene D. Hays, Barbara Leavitt, Lenore Plassman, LeAnne Ries, Rose Romfo, and Kolleen Schlenker.
All of these poets read their winning works. Our judges -- Jane Alynn, Leah Hieber, Larry Peterson and Ed Stover -- also shared poems. (You'll find short bios of the poets at the end of this article.)
Stover noted that there was a sad note in the evening. "One poignant moment was a pause to remember Paul Anderson, who died on April 10 following years of ill health. His wife Joyce Hernandez and his daughter Elaine were able to join us and I think genuinely appreciated the acknowledgment of Paul's contributions to the contest and the poetry community. Paul, Linda Brown and I served as judges for the very first contest back in 1995, plus Paul won awards in several years after that."
A special nod was given to Elaine Smith, retired YVCC English professor and "mother" of our Juried Poetry Competition as well as its offshoot, the Labyrinth Poetry Chapbook series. This year's chapbook is dedicated to Elaine for her untiring commitment to promoting poets and poetry in Central Washington.
In addition, co-coordinators Linda Brown and Cindy Lamb were thanked for marshaling all the necessary details for a successful contest and the evening's celebratory reading.
Thanks also go to Brian Holtzinger for the painting that became the cover art for our chapbook. Jim Brunner of Taylor Music played classical guitar in the half-hour before the event started and was well-received. Two Mountain Winery co-owner Matthew Rawn brought wines and helped pour in support of the event. Roving photographer for the evening was M R McDonald.
One fun -- almost kooky! -- part of the Coffeehouse tradition is the raffle which raises additional money to support the next year's competition. The crowd bought over 200 tickets and enjoyed prizes that included baskets made in-house with an assortment of "painted pints" (glasses) from past Fresh Hop Ale Festivals, Lincoln Espresso Gift Cards, Allied Arts-designed journals, Allied Arts-designed messenger bags, recyclable pencils, previous years' chapbooks, and (the "hot item" of the night) a pair of tickets for this fall's Fresh Hop Ale Festival.
All in all, our 18th Annual Poetry Competition Coffeehouse was a rousing success. Already, the early plans have been laid for next year's competition and reading in April 2013. We hope to see you there!
(Additional copies of the chapbook are available at Allied Arts for just $5 each.)
Poet Biographies:
Dan Peters grew up & lives in Selah. He teaches at Yakima Valley Community College. Throws right, writes left.
Sarah Augustine lives on the Heirloom Cattle Ranch in White Swan, where she raises natural beef with her husband Dan and son Micah. She is an Assistant Professor at Heritage University. She is often crabby, a fashion coward, and she has been dreaming and writing poems since the third grade, a good long time.
Terry Martin is an English Professor at Central Washington University. An avid reader and writer, Martin has published two books and over 250 poems, essays, and articles, and has edited both journals and anthologies.
Philip Roberts is a poet and visual artist currently living in Yakima with his wife and two
children. His poetic inspirations include Richard Hugo and Margaret Atwood.
Donald Berk quit Chicago techbiz, retired to Yakima in 2007 (nearer grandkids). He served in the Air Force, is a flight instructor, holds an MFA in writing, recently published a novel, In Search of Wings Lost.
Dustin Becker is a poet from Yakima. He belongs to an enviably-talented group of local writers tentatively called “Here Say.” He is not yet thirty and would like to stay that way.
Dotty Armstrong is a native Seattleite who has fallen in love with the brown hills (even without balsam root flowers), reliable sun, and arts community in Yakima. She lives with Vera in Naches where she gets to feed the ducks on the slough.
Lenore Plassman: My work is my resume. Earth Mother, able mentor, leads my spirit, sharpening my humble pencil, willing me to hear her whispers.
W.D. Frank is an artist, musician and historian from Yakima. He was the recipient of the first Tom Pier Prize at the 10th Annual Juried Poetry Reading and Coffeehouse in 2004.
Barbara Leavitt is a wordsmith and visual artist who delights in the endless ways words can be combined to create images, set a tempo, and tell a story. She is happiest when her poems touch another’s heart.
Kolleen Schlenker lives in Grandview with her husband of 31 years. They have three grown daughters. Kolleen earned her MFA in Creative Writing in 2008 from National University in
La Jolla California.
Irene D. Hays, Ed.D., writer, teacher, and director of school-based and workplace education programs in humanities and science, has made her home in Santa Barbara, Colorado, Idaho, Seattle, and Hawaii, and now resides in Richland, Washington. She has published two chapbooks, numerous poems, and is currently named a Finalist in the New Rivers Press first-book competition at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Rose Romfo, a native of Yakima, teaches English as a Second Language to students at Central Washington University. She has written poetry for more than half of her life.
Randie Gottlieb is blessed with a forgiving family. She has been chased by street gangs in Morocco, eaten dog soup in Bolivia, played volleyball on the US women’s team, and earned a degree in wood- working. She is a member of the Baha’i Faith, and currently works as a diversity trainer, author, and professor for Heritage University.
LeAnne Ries was selected as the Labyrinth poet for 2011, and her chapbook, The Calling, is currently available at Allied Arts and Inklings Bookstore. She is a previous second place winner of the Allied Arts Juried Poetry Contest.
Leah Hieber is a fantasy writer and earnest nerdling. By day, she is an instructional strategist in the Lower Valley.
Ed Stover is a retired newspaper journalist and Yakima Valley native who now divides his time between homes in Yakima and Portland, Oregon.
Jane Alynn is the author of two collections of poems: Necessity of Flight (Cherry Grove, 2011) and a chapbook, Threads & Dust (Finishing Line Press, 2005). She is widely published, and in 2004, received a William Stafford Award from Washington Poets Association.
Larry Peterson. Akron, Columbus, Williamsburg, Columbus, Ortonville, Akron, Boston, Wawa, Interstate 80, Columbus, Interstate 80, Tetons, Wind Rivers, Uintas, Rock Springs, Miami, Star Valley, Logan, Victor, Moscow, Victor, Washington, DC, Victor, Washington, DC, Moscow, Washington, DC, Moscow, Wenatchee, Yakima, London, Edinburgh, Yakima, Lyons, Arles, Nice, Yakima, Zurs.