HVWG Poetry Contest Reading

The Hudson Valley Writers Guild recently held a poetry contest and next Saturday at 1:00PM the winners and other participants will read their poems at the Bethlehem Public Library, 451 Delaware Ave., Delmar. If you are a regualr at the poetry open mics in the area, you will recognize some of the names of poets who participated this year. When all the votes were tallied, the judges Cecele Kraus, Dawn Marar, Thom Francis, and Phillip Levine selected D.A. Bird as the first place winner with Carol Graser and Tess Lecuyer very close behind.

Here are the winners, honorable mentions, and finalists of the 2012 contest:

First Place Winner

We, Misplaced – D. A. Bird, Saugerties

Second Place Winner

The Haiku – Carol Graser, Galway

Third Place Winner

Sonnet for Dana Avenue at Midnight – Tess Lecuyer, Albany

Honorable Mentions

How to Get a Busted Lip – D. A Bird, Saugerties

To My Heart and To the Girls Who Pour Coffee – Noah Kucij, Albany

In Church, at Lunchtime, When I was 12 in Catholic School – Kathleen Anne Smith, Loudonville

When the Sunflowers of Summer are Planted – Dennis Sullivan, Voorheesville

Marcela – Living in America – Deb Livingston Picker, Albany

Julia in Her Room – Karen Schoemer, Kinderhook

The Queen of England – Virginia Bach Folger, Schenectady

Finalists

Goldfinch – Jo Pitkin, Cold Spring

Beds – Noah Kucij, Albany

At the Last – Katharyn Howd Machan, Ithaca

Whenever I Am Alone (after Diane dePrima’s Guaceme) – Joan Oliver, Glenmont

View from the Highway – Justin Hardecker, Albany

Reflections in a Barroom Mirror – Mike Burke, Voorheesville

Marcela – The Name of the Game – Deb Livingston Picker, Albany

Bag Ladies – Amy White, Old Chatham

A Round for Bix – John Hopper, Ithaca

The Book of Sand – Barbara Louise Unger, Saratoga Springs

Handles and I Did Something…. – Esther Willison, Niskayuna

Darkwalking – Tess Lecuyer, Albany

The Sea of Cause – Bert Shaw, Bearsville

It Never Comes Alone – Nancy Marie Payne, Berne

Laid Off Summer – Carol Graser, Galway