Write By the Rails members, in cooperation with the Prince William Arts Council, selected a diverse group of residents to serve on the selection panel for Prince William County’s first Poet Laureate.
The panel was introduced at a April 29 media reception held at Bistro L’Hermitage in Occoquan, Virginia. Corporate sponsor Tackett’s Mill Lakeside provided hors d’oeuvres for guests and, afterwards, a dinner for members of the selection committee.
The event was organized by Steering Committee Chair June Forte of Write by the Rails; corporate sponsor Tackett’s Mill Lakeside liaison to the art community Nancy Kyme; and Chairwoman of the Prince William County Arts Council Sheyna Burt. Virginia Poet Laureate, Sophia Starnes, attended as a speaker and guest of honor.
Forte said it was important that the selection panelists reflect the community, so she kept that in mind when reaching out to local writers.
“I knew that I needed poets, but I didn’t think I should just stop there,” she said.
Because the Poet Laureate would have to propose a community project, she also sought “people involved in the community.” The resulting panel includes teachers, professors, businesspeople, journalists, veterans and students.
Woodbridge Senior High School teacher Cathy Hailey said she had suggested that the panel consider a poet of any age. Based upon her suggestion, Forte said the panel may decide to elect one Poet Laureate, an adult, and one “Rising Writer,” a student or young person.
Special guest Sofia Starnes, Poet Laureate of Virginia, spoke about the importance of poetry in community life and read a selection of her poems. She said she enjoyed seeing that in Prince William County people from all walks of life, involved in a variety of fields, are also poets and writers.
“That’s what I really like, and what I hope to see,” Starnes said.
Starnes emphasized that being a reader of poetry is as important as the writing of poetry, saying “Anything that supports the reading of poetry is just as important [as celebrating the poets themselves,] because without the reader, there is no poetry.”
Starnes, a Williamsburg resident whose term ends in 2014, presented members of the local media with The Nearest Poem Anthology, a compilation of readers’ responses from around the state to poems that have touched them deeply. The anthology includes essays by two Write by the Rails members, Kristy Feltenberger Gillespie, a school guidance counselor at Marstellar Middle School in Bristow, and June Forte, a lecturer at Northern Virginia Community College’s Woodbridge Campus.
Park Side Middle School teacher Alice Mergler, a member of the panel, explained to Bristow Beat how she felt strongly about the Poet Laureate program, since she was instrumental in creating the Prince William Arts Council over two decades ago.
“I decided if I was going to live here, I was going to live in a place where I didn’t have to go out to the Kennedy Center. I started a program called Arts in the Park,” she said.
Next she applied to host a cable access program called “Arts Alive,” which featured Prince William members of the arts and music communities. Now, The Hylton Performing Arts Center's annual “Arts Alive” event carries on the name of her program.
The panel is still accepting nominations for the position of Prince William Poet Laureate. The deadline is May 10. Nancy Kyme explained that people can nominate themselves, and in fact, that is the best way to secure a nomination since it requires the person to provide samples of poetry, a resume and a plan to establish a community project; although resumes will only be considered after the writing pieces.
Nomination guidance and forms are available on the Prince William County Arts Council website at www.pwcartscouncil.org (click on “news”).
The election panel will meet in late May at Northern Virginia Community College, Woodbridge Campus, to select the Prince William Poet Laureate. The announcement of the first Prince William Poet Laureate will be made on June 14 at Tackett’s Mill Lakeside.
Selection panel members are:
1. Alirio Aleman, poet, novelist and Spanish-language journalist;
2. Lindsey Barszcy, student, Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, Woodbridge Senior High School;
3. Carlos Castro, entrepreneur and founder of Todos Supermarkets;
4. Dr. Constance Gilman, Director, Prince William Public Library System;
5. Cathy Hailey, creative writing teacher, Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, Woodbridge Senior High School;
6. Marie Khalili Nasiri, author and business owner of State Farm Insurance, Manassas, daughter of Khalilullah Khalili, historian, poet, philosopher and statesman of Afghanistan;
7. Sergeant Major Michael Mack, Wounded Warrior Regiment, Marine Corps Base Quantico;
8. Alice Mergler, English and Drama teacher, Parkside Middle School;
9. Eric Pankey, poet, professor of English and Heritage Chair in Writing, George Mason University;
10. Mark Shaaber, Chief Executive Officer, SCS Integrated Support Solutions, Manassas, and Founder and Chairman, Prince William Veterans Council; and
11. LeeAnn Thomas, poet, Assistant Professor of English, Northern Virginia Community College’s Woodbridge Campus and board member of the Northern Virginia Review.
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