Poets

The Washington County Free Library invites local writers and poets to submit entries for the 2011 Writers and Poets contest. The library will accept poems and short stories through the end of March. All entries must be delivered to any library branch throughout the county or bookmobile or they may be postmarked by March 31. Poems and stories will be judged in five age divisions: grades 2 and 3; 4 and 5; 6 through 8, 9 through 12, and adult. Poets may submit one or two poems.

Poets are invited to submit works LOGAN, Utah - Creative Communication announces its semi-annual free poetry contest. Students and adults from the Atlantic states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., are invited to enter the contest. More than $2,500 in prizes are awarded to the winning poets and $500 in grants is awarded to schools. There are five separate divisions with 10 top winners in each division. The divisions are: Grades K to 3, 4 to 5, 7 to 9, 10 to 12 and adult.

Washington County Arts Council Gallery will host singer and songwriter Original Cyn, musical trio The Rolling Coyotes, ceramic artist Lea Ann Hudson and regional poets at its upcoming M-Cubed performance at 8 p.m. Friday, May 16. The performance will be held at WCAC Gallery, 41 S. Potomac St., Hagerstown. The Rolling Coyotes, from Shepherdstown, W.Va., is headed by singer and songwriter Steve Warner. The Rolling Coyotes paint vivid pictures of chracters and places. Original Cyn (Cynthia Berget)

The 10th annual Washington County Poetry Contest winners were announced on April 23 and a reception was held to honor the poets at the Central Library in Hagerstown on Tuesday. The contest drew 145 poems written by residents of Washington County. Ten poems - two in each of five age divisions - were awarded top prizes and one additional poem from each division was given honorable mention by the judges. The poems could be on any topic and in any style. The only limitation was that they could be no longer than a page in length.

American women and their quilts WINCHESTER, Va. - Textile expert Deborah Kraak will discuss quilt-making in a lecture using letters, diaries, and articles in magazines and books from the 1750s through 1900. Coincides with an exhibit on Shenandoah Valley quilts. 2 p.m. today. Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, 901 Amherst St. Call 540-662-1473. Maryland poets and composers The Hamilton Recital will feature soprano Karen Lubeck and pianist Jean Schneider in a program featuring Maryland poets and composers; also highlights the work of Baltimore journalist and music critic H.L. Mencken.

By BRYN MICKLE / Staff Writer, Martinsburg photo: YVETTE MAY / staff photographer SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - In an age when images of war are most often conveyed on movie and television screens, it might seem ironic that two men with close ties to Hollywood chose the written word to commemorate Memorial Day. Filmmaker Ronald F. Maxwell and actor Brian Mallon entertained about 40 people Sunday night inside Shepherd...

"Good Poems Out Loud" 7 p.m. Friday, April 11 Coyle Free Library 102 N. Main St. Chambersburg, Pa. 1-717-263-1054 Local actors Dick Shoap, Francoise Harrison, Bill Pukmel and Lindsey Shoap will present poems by Carl Sandburg, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, E.B. White and more. Baltimore-area poets Daniel Johnson and Peter Chapman will headline a reading and discussion of the local poetry publishing scene. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15 Marx Center Hood College Frederick, Md. 1-301-696-3744 Poet Andrew Mossin 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 16 Sarah's Coffeehouse Lenfest Commons Wilson College 1015 Philadelphia Ave. Chambersburg, Pa. For information, go to www.wilson.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - "Attention Kmart Shoppers!" "This is God. Evacuate my mall!" The first two lines in Ed Zahniser's book of poetry titled "Mall-Hopping with the Great I AM" seemed to jibe well with the first Hearts for the Arts community event on Saturday at Martinsburg Mall. "We're never quoted in the news, you know," Zahniser said when asked about his participation with more than 50 visual artists and authors who agreed to take part in the two-day event organized by Athens on the Opequon, a society formed for the appreciation of traditional poetry, literature and fine arts.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Carrol D. Peterson will present a costumed living history presentation titled "Walt Whitman: Poet of Democracy" at Washington County Free Library in downtown Hagers-town on Monday, April 21, at 7 p.m. "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. " In this costumed, living history presentation, Peterson portrays the larger-than-life Walt Whitman, discusses his views on poetry and politics in America and recounts his Civil War experience.

Youth imagines the world if King had lived on By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer Fifteen-year-old Lawrence Staten of Hagerstown asked about 25 people Saturday to imagine how things might be had Martin Luther King Jr. not been assassinated. "Laws have been passed that not only outlaw racism, but make it the highest capital crime," he said, envisioning a world with the famous civil rights leader still alive. "There is universal acceptance of every race and creed.

Some closed their eyes, as though depicting on a canvas in their own minds the words that escaped a deep, gentle voice. Others bowed their heads, as if to let the words wash over them, saturating their skin. Such was the scene at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts on Friday when Maryland's poet laureate Stanley Plumly took the stage to wax poetic before an audience of a about 60 people. Some, like Nan Roberts, 39, came for influence. “I attempt to write poetry, and I wouldn't mind the inspiration from this,” said Roberts, of Hagerstown.

Stanley Plumly has received many awards and published many books in his long career in poetry. And for the past four years, the University of Maryland, College Park English professor has been Maryland's poet laureate. But this particular honor doesn't go to his head. “I guess it's an honor. I was talked into it,” Plumly said by phone from his office in College Park, Md. “The governor (Martin O'Malley) is very good. He's very literate. And he loves to quote poems. He knows a lot of old Irish poems.

Richard Dawkins might properly be ranked as the most prolific, gifted and colorful writer in explaining the workings of science to the reading public. In “Unweaving The Rainbow,” Dawkins is at his best educating the public about the nature of science with emphasis on evolutionary biology and a deliberate attempt to awaken each reader to the poetic wonder of the awesome universe. Science is not, according to Dawkins, a pessimistic, fatalistic unraveling of nature by soulless investigators.

Frederick Ethan Fischer’s work showed in his poetry and writings, and was heard on his radio broadcasts, in his Shepherd University classroom and by children sitting on the grass. Fischer, better known as Ethan, died June 17 at his home in Bolivar, W.Va., after a year-and-a-half bout with cancer. He was 69. A memorial service will be Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church at Washington and King streets. It will be followed by a procession down Washington Street to Carlos Niederhauser’s and Liz Wheeler’s home at 202 S. Princess St., where a reception will be held.

The Washington County Free Library announces the winners of the 2011 Writers and Poets contest. This year, there were 80 short stories and 250 poems entered into the competition.    Works could be submitted by residents of Washington County or holders of a Washington County Free Library card. The judges of the competition selected two winning entries in the area of short stories and poetry from each of five age divisions. The winning entrants along with honorable mention works are as follows:  Grades 2 and 3 Short Story winners: "Crazy Crafts," by Sophie Scheck, and "Pete's Wrong Turn," by Zachary Wandalow-ski Honorable mention: "The Firewall," by Sullivan McGee Poetry winners: "How I Love My Dog," by Karina Dekany, and "Fun," by Eli Singer Honorable mention, "Winter," by Merrick McDougal  Grades 4 and 5 Short Story winners: "CinderRide," by Rebecca L. Snyder, and "The Raconza Sword," by Mya Rattay Poetry winners: "The Twilight Sled Ride," by Makenna Luzier, and "Dances of the Trees," by Lauryn Daniels Honorable mention, "Where Am I?

The Washington County Free Library is inviting all writers and poets to submit an entries to the 2011 Writers and Poets contest. The library will be accepting poems and short stories from now until the end of March. Poems and stories will be judged in five age divisions: Grades second and third; grades fourth and fifth; grades sixth through eighth; grades ninth through 12th; and adult. Entrants may submit up to two poems and one short story for consideration. Poems may not exceed two typed pages.

Washington County Free Library is inviting all writers and poets to submit an entry to the 2011 Writers and Poets Contest.   The library will accept poems and short stories until the end of March.  Poems and stories will be judged in five age divisions: grades 2 to 3, grades 4 to 5, grades 6 to 8, grades 9 to 12 and adults. Entrants may submit up to two poems and one short story for consideration. Poems may not exceed two typed pages.  The library asks that short story entries be double spaced and not exceed 5,000 words.

The Washington County Free Library invites local writers and poets to submit entries for the 2011 Writers and Poets contest. The library will accept poems and short stories through the end of March. All entries must be delivered to any library branch throughout the county or bookmobile or they may be postmarked by March 31. Poems and stories will be judged in five age divisions: grades 2 and 3; 4 and 5; 6 through 8, 9 through 12, and adult. Poets may submit one or two poems.

Shepherdstown musician Terry Tucker, who wrote a song for director Stanley Kubrick's 1972 violent and futuristic film "A Clockwork Orange," has released a new CD that puts to music the words of two late-19th- century poets. Tucker became interested in the poetry of Danske Bedinger Dandridge, (1854-1914) and her poet father, Henry Bedinger, a Shepherdstown native and one-time U.S. minister to Denmark. Dandridge eventually owned Rose Brake, an antebellum brick home outside Shepherdstown.

HAGERSTOWN -- "Writers see a little further than other people see," said Charles Carey, who is a writer, a Vietnam veteran, a father, a grandfather and homeless. Carey, 54, says he can see hardship on people's faces and probably recognizes it because he knows it himself. Now, he finds comfort in writing. He enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school in Jefferson County, W.Va. In Saigon for eight months in 1974, Carey remembers evacuating people. "War is not a pleasant thing, but I guess it's a necessary thing for us to be free, for other countries to try to be free," he said.