A call for poetry submissions from the folks at Writers in the Mountains:
Dear poets, a contest for you. We’re raining poetry again this July! Looking forward to all your entries. Please reply before or on deadline. No late submissions will be considered. Your poem must be six words. Not one word more or less. Please consider a small syllable count. Creative brevity is key to all.
As you may have noticed, the paragraph above is made up of sentences of only six words a piece. That’s the challenge for this year. We want original SIX WORD poems from you. Subjects for poems will be open, but we encourage works connected to the Catskills. Poems meeting length restrictions will be selected through a blind-judging committee of three, and overseen by Writers in the Mountains.
Once again, our public street project, modeled after Boston’s Raining Poetry Project, opens on July 7th in happy conjunction with the 2018 Celebrate Roxbury Summer Festival (over 1,500 visitors in 2017) and will feature approximately 20 poems stenciled on Roxbury sidewalks using biodegradable water-repellent spray. They will not be visible in dry weather. Watering cans will be placed near each poem & visual response on opening day. Visitors will walk through town in search of the watering cans, and then sprinkle the water onto the sidewalk to reveal the poems & paintings.
THE POEMS WILL REMAIN INVISIBLE, BUT ONCE WATER HITS THEM, THE POEMS WILL SUDDENLY, MAGICALLY REVEAL THEMSELVES!
Also, this year, we are thrilled to welcome visual artists to our project – now titled Raining Poetry & Painting in Roxbury 2018. We are pairing artists with our selected poems, and will stencil their visual response on the sidewalk next to the poem. This is a fun and unexpected way to expose people to poetry and the synergy between different art forms. Poems and art will work together to bring new energy and beauty to our project.
An open-air reception for poets and artists will follow (details to come). Participating Poets will be invited to read their works and answer questions from the audience.
Please send submissions to jtstone@catskill.net no later than April 16, 2018. Include your name, address, and phone number, in addition to your email address.
Raining Poetry & Painting in Roxbury 2018, sponsored by Writers in the Mountains, is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and administered in Delaware County by the Roxbury Arts Group.
Writers in the Mountains is a 501 ( c ) (3) not-for-profit organization with a mission to provide a nurturing environment for the practice, appreciation and sharing of creative writing. Learn more at writersinthemountains.org.
