GREENFIELD — Language lovers gathered for a night of poetry readings followed by honorable awards for the 27th Annual Poet’s Seat Poetry Contest.
Audience members young and old gathered with poets of the same age range in Stoneleigh Burnham’s Capen Room Thursday evening. Some came to listen, some came to read their own poems, all came to appreciate.
While the audience listened to each poet’s words with quiet respect, occasional “oohs” and “ahhs” could be heard throughout the room as particularly touching lines were read. Other lines were met with laughter.
The contest has a history twice the age of some of its entrants; it began in 1991 and has been sponsored by Friends of the Greenfield Public Library ever since. The competition is held in memory of poet Frederick Goddard Tuckerman who lived in Greenfield from 1847 until his death in 1873.
Tuckerman was considered by his contemporaries — which included writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau — to be a talented poet. Although he graduated from Harvard Law, he opted for a life of botany and poetry.
Franklin County community members 12 and older are welcome to submit poems to the annual contest. Then, in a celebratory evening, finalists are invited to read their poems before the judges’ decisions are announced.
Three judges — Janet MacFayden, author, poet and managing editor of Slate Roof Press; Dennis Martin Piana, the 25th winner of the contest and Cindy Snow, a writer and poet from Shelburne Falls — determined the adult winners.
Preston Hood III received the honor of first place in the adult category, winning the overall contest with his poem “Beauty is a Cardinal.” As first-prize winner, Hood will receive stewardship of the Poet’s Seat chair with his name on a plaque listing the previous winners. He also received a handcrafted Poet’s Platter made by local Asparagus Valley Potters and a gift certificate to a local bookstore.
Coming in second was Joannah L. Whitney with her poem “Diarist,” and Stefan Calabria took home third place for “Requiem for a Coyote.”
The three poets who judged the youth poems were Jeannine Atkins, author and professor; Amy Gordon, a poet who lives in Gill and Barry McColgan, a former English and theater teacher at Greenfield High School and current library assistant at the local public library.
Younger poets were judged in two age groups, 12 to 14 and 15 to 18. “Around the Map in Sixteen Lines” by Evangeline Heath and “Ecology” by Vivienne Potee placed in the top two for poets ages 12 to 14, and “From” by Amelia Chen and “Family Tree” by Elizabeth Perkins placed in the top two for poets ages 15 to 18.
Winners also received a handcrafted mug of their choice, donated by Asparagus Valley Potters, and a gift certificate to a local bookstore.
“I was happy to be the winner within such great poetry,” Hood said. “Everyone’s poems were wonderful.”
Reach Christie Wisniewski at: cwisniewski@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 280