The Search Is On For the Next Poet Laureate

Are you a poet and you darn well know it?

You could be in luck because the search is on for the 35th Bucks County Poet Laureate.

The program is administered by Bucks County Community College. Professors Christopher Bursk and Charlie Groth are directors of the program, the longest-running of its kind in Pennsylvania, according to the college.

To enter, you must be a Bucks County resident age 18 or older who has never previously served as poet laureate, said Bursk, the 1978 poet laureate and a longtime professor at Bucks County Community College.

Each entrant must submit 10 original poems by Friday, Sept. 9, along with an entry form to the college’s Department of Language and Literature. 

The winner of the competition will receive $500 and a proclamation from the Bucks County Commissioners. The winner will also do a reading at Bucks County Community College with 2010 Poet Laureate Lorraine Henrie Lins and runners-up in the contest.

This year’s contest is being held in memory of Dr. Allen Hoey, a BCCC professor who passed away last year while serving as the director of the program. This year’s preliminary judge will be Barbara Daniels, author of “Rose Fever."

The final judge will be Martha Rhodes, author of three collections of poetry, most recently “Perfect Disappearance,” which was a winner of the Green Rose Prize. Rhodes is the director of Four Way Books and the Robert Frost Poetry Festival.

There is no charge to enter.

Entry forms can be obtained online at http://bit.ly/buckscountylaureate, at libraries and bookstores throughout the county or by contacting the Department of Language and Literature at 215-968-8150. 

For more information, call 215-968-8156.