Kirstin Hotelling-Zona, a prizewinng poet, editor
and scholar, lead the sixth annual Roque Bluffs Poetry Festival on Saturday, July 30, 2011 in Roque Bluffs, Maine.
The festival coincided with a public barbecue prepared by members of the Roque Bluffs
Chapel in celebration of the chapel's 110th anniversary.
Zona, who summers in Maine, is associated
professor of English at Illinois State University, where she teaches creative writing. She is editor of the Spoon River
Poetry Review and author of numerous published poems and essays on poetry.
Her poem "Riptide"
won the Elizabeth Matchett Stover Prize in 2005. Other poems of hers have been contest finalists, and a chapbook of
her poems, selected in a contest, will be published later this year. University presses have published two of ther books,
"Marianne Moore, Elizabeth Bishop, and May Swenson: The Feminist Poetics of Self-Restraint," and a book she edited
titled "Dear Elizabeth: Five Poems and Three Letters from May Swenson to Elizabeth Bishop." She also
co-hosts a program called "Poetry Radio" on a station affiliated with NPR.
DOES ANYONE HAVE PHOTOS TAKEN AT THE 2011 FESTIVAL
TO SHARE ON THIS WEB SITE?
For more information, contact Gerald George at 255-0068 or geraldwgeorge@msn.com.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ 2010 Roque Bluffs Poetry Festival with Dr. Sandra HutchinsonWe had a great festival. Photos below by Sharon Bray. Join us next year!
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| Sandra Hutchison, guest poet |
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| Grace Sheridan |
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| Don Crane |
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| Jerry George |
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| Phil Rose |
a few pictures of poets reading Saturday night
The Roque Bluffs Chapel put on a supper for the public and the poets. (top picture below) Ann and Mort Lockett were
key organizers and friends of the festival. (middle picture) Kelly's nephew Joe Thompson and his wife Sherry
continue to inspire the Sages.
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| Ann and Mort Lockett |
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| Joe and Sherry Thompson |
For more information contact
Jerry George at geraldwgeorge@msn.com or (207) 255-6800. _______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
2009 Roque
Bluffs Poetry Festival
Featured Prize-Winning Irish Poet
It's
history! The fourth Annual Roque Bluffs Poetry Festival on Saturday August 1, 2009 sponsored by the Salt Coast Sages was a
splendid event. A group of thirteen took part in the workshop offered by distinguished poet Paddy Bushe** of Waterville, Kerry
Co, Ireland. Plied with pots of coffee, cups of tea, a few green grapes and slices from the bundt style cakes provided by
Roberta Crane, we absorbed insights on developing an effective poem.
Paddy read and led
discussion of five handouts - examples of using place, a phrase, relationships, implied social statements, beauty in the ordinary,
details that bring a poem to life for the reader. In the second hour of the workshop, all pens
were busy as thirteen drafts based on one of the handouts, were in the making either at the indoor tables, or outside on the
door step or at the picnic table.
Well into the afternoon, one by one, each writer read
his/her draft to the group with feedback from the listeners and perceptive comments from our workshop leader that will lead
each writer to a stronger piece of work.
After supper a group gathered back at the Community Center for an open
mic poetry reading. Host Jerry George welcomed Paddy and Fiona Bushe as our guests of honor , gave homage to the late Kelly
Lombardi as the founder of the Roque Bluffs Poetry Festival and the Salt Coast Sages. It was Kelly's dream that Paddy
Bushe be part of this festival and it was a delight to hear him share, in English and in Irish, many of his poems. To round out the evening, the following poets also shared their work: Ray Beal, Sharon Bray, Donald Crane, Marcie
Dean, Kathi Proulx, Joyce Pye, Ellen Richards, Phil Rose, Grace Sheridan, Ella Zona, Kirstin Zona.
** Mr. Bushe, a native of Dublin who now lives in Waterville in County Kerry, writes in both English and Irish. He
has published eight collections of poetry plus three books of translations. He has twice won grants from Ireland's Arts
Council, and his poems have won at least four awards: the Strokestown International Prize, the Listowel Writers' Week
Poetry Prize, the Michael Harnett Award, and the Oireachtas Prize. He has been elected to membership in Aosdána, a
prestigious Irish honorary organization.
# # # Pictures
from the 2009 Festival
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| Paddy Bushe |
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| Jerry George introduces Paddy Bushe |
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| Phil Rose at 2009 festival |
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| Kirsten Zona and Grace Sheridan |
Clips from the The Roque Bluff Poetry Festival
2008
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| Salt Coast poet Jerry George with Alice Persons |
The Third Annual Roque Bluffs Poetry Festival was held on Saturday, August 2, 2008 at
the Community Center in Roque Bluffs, Maine. Alice Persons, a distinguished poet and the editor and publisher of Moon Pie
Press, conducted a workshop from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The afternoon was free for poets and others to get acquainted with each
other, do some writing, or enjoy the beach at nearby Roque Bluffs State Park. At 5:30 p.m., members of the public joined the poets for a ham and bean supper at the Community
Center, followed by poetry readings by Persons and several other poets. Persons, who lives in Westbrook, Maine, teaches English and business law at the University of Southern Maine. She
has published three poetry chapbooks, and her poems have been featured by Garrison Keillor on National Public Radio's
"Writer's Almanac."
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| Salt Coast poets Grace Sheridan and M. Kelly Lombardi |
The annual festival is sponsored by the Salt Coast Sages, a local
poetry group founded by the late M. Kelly Lombardi. Fifteen poets participated in the morning workshop at the Roque Bluffs
Community Center.
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