Former Poet Laureate Robert Hass returns to the Library of Congress on Saturday, May 8, to moderate a program honoring the student winners of the fourth annual "River of Words" Environmental Poetry & Art Contest. The program, featuring a display of artworks by their creators and poetry readings by the winning authors, will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the Mumford Room on the sixth floor of the James Madison Memorial Building. It is free and open to the public.
Mr. Hass co-founded River of Words with Pamela Michael, who serves as project director. The International Rivers Network and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress are the cosponsors. The contest, which focuses on the theme of "watersheds," is open to young artists and poets from 5 to 19 years of age. Eight grand prizes, four in poetry and four in art, are awarded. The grand prize winners and one international winner receive a trip to Washington, accompanied by a parent. Last year, several thousand children in 44 states and 10 countries submitted artwork and poems about their own natural surroundings. State centers for the book in Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico are River of Words participants, and more state centers are expected to become sponsors in the future.
Robert Hass and Pamela Michael congratulate Alex Schneble, winner of a 1998 Grand Prize for Art, at the Library of Congress last year.
"This has been a record year for entries," said Ms. Michael. "There may be as many as 10,000. We won't know until the sorting ends."
The deadline in the United States was Feb. 15; international entries were accepted until March 15.
"We are trying to alert kids to the natural world and its connection to artistic expression and the human spirit," said Mr. Hass, who served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 1995 to 1997 and whose conference on "Watersheds" at the Library of Congress helped inspire the River of Words poetry and art contest.
Contest guidelines and booklets and a teacher's guide are available from River of Words, International Rivers Network, P.O. Box 4000-J, Berkeley, CA 94704, telephone: (510) 433-7020, fax: (510) 848-1008, e-mail: [email protected] The River of Words Web site (www.irn.org) provides more information. It contains dozens of winning poems and works of art and a database of more than 4,000 community organizations that are potential partners for local River of Words projects.
River of Words is supported by contributions from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Center for Ecoliteracy, the Library of America, Magnetic Poetry, the Rhode Island Foundation, American Airlines and Robin and Marsha Williams.
Previous prize-winning art includes: top left, "The Night," Alex Schneble (Grade 2), Issaquah, Wash.; top right, "Key to the River," Jennifer Brisson (Grade 8), Clarkton, N.C.; bottom left, "Seeing the Pond from the Pipe," Emily Forbes (Kindergarten), Kennesaw, Ga.; bottom right, "Watershed of the Forest," Dina Bassin (Grade 10), Fair-
lawn, N.J.
Virginia Celebrates Its Authors
More than 250 people attended the first Library of Virginia Awards Honoring Virginia Authors and Friends, held on Sept. 19, 1998. The Library of Virginia, the Virginia Center for the Book and the Virginia Library Foundation were the sponsors. Center for the Book Program Officer Maurvene D. Williams represented the Library of Congress at the festivities. Poet Charles Wright, this year's winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, won the prize for fiction for Black Zodiac. Historian James I. Robertson Jr. received the nonfiction award for his biography, Stonewall Jackson: The Man, The Soldier, The Legend. The late Ellen Glasgow, a Richmonder who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1941, was recognized for her lifetime achievement. Each author and a Glasgow representative received awards of $1,000 as well as a crystal sculpture of a book. Richmond philanthropist Clinton Webb IV was honored for his contributions to the Library of Virginia.
Best-selling author David Baldacci and Virginia Center for the Book Executive Director Deborah Hocutt at the
Library of Virginia legislative reception, Jan. 21, 1999. Mr. Baldacci is a member of VCB's advisory board.
"It was a wonderful event and we expect to top it with the second awards ceremony on Sept. 18, 1999," said Virginia Center for the Book Executive Director Deborah L. Hocutt.
The Virginia Center for the Book's mission is "to create a greater awareness and appreciation of books, reading and the literary heritage of the commonwealth." With support from Librarian of Virginia Nolan Yelich, Ms. Hocutt and the center's board of advisers have undertaken several initiatives to strengthen the Virginia Center for the Book and its statewide role. It is actively involved in the annual Virginia Festival of the Book. The Virginia Authors Room, dedicated on Nov. 6, 1997, helps preserve the state's literary heritage — as does the Virginia Authors database. Interactive teleconferences bring award-winning Virginia authors to classrooms and statewide audiences. Featured authors in 1998 were Mary Lee Settle and Charles Wright. On Jan. 20, 1999, Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky led an educational teleconference with more than 100 secondary-school students.
A recent development is the creation of regional Virginia Center for the Book affiliates in the Fairfax County, Charlottesville and Virginia Beach areas. The center's "20th Century Virginia Authors" map and brochure continue to be popular tools for highlighting the state's literary heritage. It is available for $7 from the Library of Virginia Shop, telephone (804) 692-3524.
For information about the Virginia Center for the Book and its activities, contact executive director Deborah Hocutt, Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23219, telephone (804) 692-4184, fax (804) 692-3736, e-mail: [email protected], Web site: www.virginiafoundation.org/bookcenter/.
Colorado Hosts the Rocky Mountain Book Festival
In the Denver Merchandise Mart on Nov. 7-8, 1998, the Colorado Center for the Book, in collaboration with many statewide and local sponsors, presented the sixth annual Rocky Mountain Book Festival. Maurvene Williams represented the Center for the Book. "A highlight was our presentation of the most extensive poetry program in the festival's history," said Colorado Center for the Book Director Chris Citron. "In addition to a Favorite Poem event, in collaboration with the Utah Arts Council, we undertook an unprecedented collaboration that brought together four regional poets laureate for readings: Mary Crow [Colorado], Robert Roripaugh [Wyoming], William Kloefkorn [Nebraska] and David Lee [Utah]."
More than 200 authors and thousands of book lovers took part in dozens of events and activities, including writing workshops, poetry contests, readings, panel discussions and workshops. The panel "Women Writing the West" was filmed by C-SPAN2 for its nationally broadcast "BookTV" program. Chautauqua performances presented by the Colorado Endowment for the Humanities that featured performances and conversations with great writers of the past, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Mark Twain, Mary Wollstonecraft, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Malcolm X, James Thurber, Isabella Bird, Emily Dickinson, Willa Cather and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Supporters of the festival also included the Rocky Mountain Public Broadcasting Network, the Colorado State Library, Barnes & Noble, Random House, The Denver Post and The Bloomsbury Review.
For information about the Colorado Center for the Book and its activities, contact executive director Chris Citron, 2123 Downing St., Denver, CO 80205, telephone: (303) 839-8324, fax: (303) 839-8319, e-mail: [email protected], Web site: www.coloradocenterforthebook.org/.
