Stonington Poet Laureate is established!

Poet laureate Press Release
the TOWN OF STONINGTON ESTABLISHES POSITION OF POET LAUREATE

Under the direction of the Stonington Cultural District Commission (SCDC), the
Town has officially established the position of ‘Poet Laureate’.

Aligning with National Poetry Month, an application and selection process will
be publicly rolled out for this two-year post. Cultural District Commission Chair Paul Geise.expressed his delight. “Given Stonington’s rich reservoir of talent in various creative arts, this recognition and honor is not only logical but important to celebrate.”
The Poet Laureate will be an ambassador for poetry in written, spoken, or sung word, and will implement a community outreach and education program to encourage the appreciation, writing, reading, and performance of poetry. This might include readings, writing workshops, in-person and online discussions and presentations that are free and open to the public, and partnerships with the schools, local community groups and other artistic and cultural organizations will be encouraged. Seeking to be sustainable, the honoree will provide a system and platform for emerging young poets to present their work in conjunction with local partners as well as to
encourage an appreciation of the diverse cultural heritage of the Town of Stonington.

All applications need to be emailed to
stoningtonculturaldistrict@gmail.com
with ‘poet laureate” in the subject heading.

Applicant must have been a resident of Stonington for at least one year, and be 18 years of age, or over, and be able to serve in the role for a two year term. Applicants may be self nominated, or nominated by another person.
The application is simple:

• Name of applicant
• 3-5 representative poems (samples of publications)
• A brief resume (one page)
• Personal response to: “Why would you like to be the Poet Laureate of
Stonington?”

Once applications have been received, a representative panel of judges* overseen by the Cultural District Commission will review and recommend the honoree.

Our search process commences immediately and will continue through to the April 4th deadline.
An official announcement of the first poet laureate is scheduled for early May.

While the poet laureate is an honorary position, an annual stipend is slated to be provided.
For more information or to learn more, please contact the Town of Stonington and its Cultural District Commission at stoningtonculturaldistrict@gmail.com.

Panel of Judges for 2025.
• Belinda deKay is Director Emeritus of Stonington Free Library,
• Elysa Engelman is the Director of Research & Scholarship, Mystic Seaport Museum
• Willard Spiegelman is a former English professor at Southern Methodist University and currently teaches MFA graduate students in the Columbia University writing program.
• Anne-Marie Houle is a seasoned social studies educator within the Stonington School System.
• Marya Ursin is a dancer/theatre maker (actor, director, producer, and is executive
director for the Dragon’s as well as co- director of the Mystic Paper Beasts.

Emily Dickinson : “A word is dead”

A word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.

I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

(Marya is a part of the Commission and was on the poet laureate committee along with Doug Rice (and, earlier last year, Jessica Cerullo and Gabriella Raduiko), working to establish a laureate, and is now on the poet selection committee!  Exciting!)

https://1drv.ms/w/c/34e0149815d5af14/EfvHMsR_rYVGrbe1z2yQpXQB1L0r1VhJ70vYjOBy5h_f5g

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2025 at 12:11 pm. It is filed under Featured, News, Special Events and Performances and tagged with all ages, commission for the arts, poet laureate, poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.