Story last updated at 3/10/2010 - 11:54 am
JUNEAU - The 2010 Juneau Poetry Omnibus competition is coming to a close this weekend with a formal poetry reading and reception for the winning entrants.
The Poetry Omnibus project is a community-wide literary outreach program that aims to provide enlightenment and inspiration to bus passengers and aspiring writers. The Juneau Arts & Humanities Council, Capital Transit, Printing & Trade Company, and the Juneau Public Libraries provide support to sustain the project. The contest entries were judged by a distinguished panel that included former Alaska State Laureate Richard Dauenhauer, current Alaska State Laureate Nancy Lord, and published poets Emily Wall and Jenifer Rae Vernon. After the results were tallied, 16 people were selected for publication of their poetry on the Capital Transit buses for one year beginning March 14, 2010.
The top eight adult winners are Michael Christenson, Bob Fagen, Grace Lumba, Brierley Ostrander, Mary Anne Slemmons, Richard Stokes, and Margo Waring. The eight youth winners are Brickie Durand, Olivia Fletcher, Cristian Guzman, Madeline Handley, Tristan Mead, Margaret Ross, Zeke Thompson, and Karl Tagaban.
The winning poets have been invited to read their submissions at a formal poetry reading on Saturday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at the downtown public library. The reading is open to the public and Friends of the Library will provide refreshments. Additionally, All submitted poems that met the criteria for competition have been published in manuscript format along with the winning entrants and will be available for viewing at any of the Juneau public libraries.
Juneau poet Robyn Holloway and UAS student assistant Deborah Corso organized this year's competition. For more information, contact the Juneau Arts & Humanities Council or poetryomnibus@hotmail.com.
