Creativity and self-expression are in the air as National Poetry Month graces Saint Leo with her presence.
The Pasco Fine Arts Council and the Cannon Memorial Library at Saint Leo University are calling all poets to celebrate with the Jacaranda Poetry Celebration.
“As part of our community outreach, the Cannon Memorial Library occasionally partners with other departments on campus, as well as outside agencies,” said Jacalyn Bryan, Saint Leo librarian. “In this way, we can better serve the SLU community and the community-at-large.”
This celebration entails a poetry contest culminating in a poetry reading and reception, offering opportunities for poets in a public forum. This competition has been held periodically by the Pasco Fine Arts Council over the past few years. Saint Leo hopes that this will be an annual event and partnership between the Cannon Memorial Library and the Pasco Fine Arts Council.
Jacaranda is native to tropical and subtropical regions of Mexico, Central America, South America, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and the Bahamas. @unclescrooch
“In the past, Saint Leo has hosted an art exhibit on ‘Historic Pasco County’ that was curated by the arts council,” said Bryan. “In the case of the poetry competition, the arts council is providing publicity and handling the entries and fees; the library is also providing publicity and overseeing the judging of the poems, as well as the reception on April 3, where they will announce the winners.”
Bryan said anyone interested in participating is welcome to contact her in the library.
Judges selected by the librarians are both published and hold MFAs in creative writing with an emphasis on poetry. The judges will use a blind review process. There will be no personal identifying information on the poems that they view. The poetry contest is open to all poets. Awards will be announced at the Jacaranda Poetry Reading.
Applicants may enter the competition via mail or online. Check the website for further information and the address at https://www.pascoarts.org/jacaranda-poetry
Invited readings will include awardees, honorable mentions and judges. Open readings are welcome on a space available basis (three-minute maximum per person).
CONTEST RULES
This event is free and open to the public. Guidelines to entry are:
- Poems must be original and not previously published.
- Poems must be typed and limited to one side of one page.
- Entry fee is $3 per poem with a limit of three poems per person.
- Deadline for submission is March 13, 2019.
- All entries will be reviewed by a panel of professional judges including published authors Carol Ann Moon, MA, MA (LIS), MFA and Brittany Leigh, MFA.
