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GCC announces winners of student poetry contest

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

"Time" magazine recently quoted Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith as she talked about the value of poetry in our world today.

She said, "Poetry requires us to be humble and beholden to something other than our own opinion. That's important. There's too much in our 21st century lives that is telling us we're the most important thing, that our initial gut reaction is incredibly valuable and not vulnerable, and that our opinions as consumers are more important than just about anything else about us.

"A poem says 'No, no. You have feelings. You have fears. You have questions. Let's get back to the voice and the vocabulary of being human.' "

The annual student poetry contest at Genesee Community College is designed to do just that -- to encourage and reward students for their abilities to express their feelings, fears, questions and voices through poetry.

For the 17th year, the poetry contest illuminated the unique and impressive talents of GCC's students. On Tuesday, April 17, the six winning students were honored at an awards and recognition ceremony in the Alfred C. O'Connell Library where they each received a certificate, gift card, and a journal to encourage them to continue their writing.

The 2018 Student Poetry Contest winners, awarded by a panel of six judges, included:

Body of Work: Committee's Choice -- Catherine McCabe-Strong, of Rochester

McCabe-Strong is in her final year of Paralegal Studies at GCC. She is a repeat winner of the Student Poetry Contest.

Body of Work: Director's Choice -- Cameron Kowalczewski, of East Aurora

Kowalczewski began at GCC in 2016 as an Accelerated College Enrollment (ACE) student and has since graduated high school and is now pursuing an associate degree in the Social Sciences with a concentration in English at GCC.

1st Place -- Nicole Favata, of Dunkirk

Favata is a Fashion Design student at GCC. Favata submitted a poem in spoken word format and the transcript is available on the Poetry Contest Web page.

2nd Place -- Raxel Piper, of Oakfield

Her second-place winning poem is entitled "The Perfect Woman."

3rd Place -- Mackayla Poorman, of Farmersville Station

Poorman is pursuing an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts at GCC's Arcade Campus Center and plans to transfer to a four-year college for writing and to minor in Theater. Her creative poem format was inspired by several of her favorite authors; Maggie Stiefvater, Jennifer Niven and Jonathan Safran Foer.

Honorable Mention honors -- Gabrielle Rozanski, of Avon, for her piece, "Tomorrow."

The entire works of these students can be found onGCC's Alfred C. O'Connell Library Poetry Contest Web page.

"Our students have many responsibilities between their studies, clubs, sports, jobs and families that demand their time and attention," Assistant Professor and Reference Services Librarian Cynthia Hagelberger said.

"We are thrilled to see so many of them putting in the extra effort it takes to enter the poetry contest each year. The library is proud and honored to offer a program that provides students with a public forum to celebrate their writing skills and creativity."

Community poetry reading featuring JoNelle Toriseva

By Howard B. Owens

A group of local residents who read and write poetry has come together to host a poetry reading featuring JoNelle Toriseva as well local poets who attend the reading at 7 p.m., April 18, in the Reading Room at the Richmond Memorial Library.

The organizers are interested in meeting with other people in the community who enjoy poetry and might be interested in coming together more frequently for readings and workshops.

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Local residents come together to host poetry reading during National Poetry Month at Richmond Memorial Library

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

A group of local residents who read and write poetry has come together to host a poetry reading featuring JoNelle Toriseva as well local poets who attend the reading. It will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, in the Reading Room at the Richmond Memorial Library.

The organizers are interested in meeting with other people in the community who enjoy poetry and might be interested in coming together more frequently for readings and workshops.

“We suspect there are several people locally who write poetry but don’t have an outlet to meet with other poets and that there are a number of people who simply enjoy poetry and would attend readings,” said one of the organizers, Howard Owens. “We hope this initial event will attract those people and show there is enough interest for regular gatherings.”

Toriseva will be the featured reader, but there will also be time for an open reading with each person invited to read one short poem of their own or of another author.

Other organizers include Eric Zwieg, Bill Kauffman, Bob Conrad, JoNelle Toriseva, and Lucine Kauffman.

About JoNelle Toriseva

JoNelle has won the Patricia Goedicke Prize in Poetry from Cutbank. Her work has appeared in, "The North American Review," "Salt Hill," "The Literary Review," "The Saranac Review," "The Cincinnati Review," "Descant," and "JACKET," among others, and included in Days I Moved Through Ordinary Sound from City Lights, and Best Canadian Poetry in English.

She is the director of English, Communications and Media Arts, and an Assistant Professor of English at SUNY-GCC, Toriseva has also taught for Mills College, California Poets in the Schools, San Francisco WritersCorps, and Literary Arts of Portland, Ore.

Award-winning New Zealand writer and poet to read on Wednesday at GCC, RSVP ASAP

By Billie Owens

Award-winning writer Louise Wareham Leonard will give a reading at Genesee Community College this Wednesday, May 4, 2016 from 12:20 - 1:15 p.m. in room T-203 of the Conable Technology Building. The event is free and open to the public. Interested attendees are asked to RSVP with JoNelle Toriseva, GCC director of English, Communications and Media Arts by e-mailing: jrtoriseva@genesee.edu.

Louise Wareham Leonard's first novel "Since You Ask" was released in 2004, and was published in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. It received the James Jones Literary Society First Novel Award. Wareham Leonard has also been shortlisted for the Prize in Modern Letters. Her second novel, "Miss Me A Lot Of," was published in 2007 and became a bestseller in New Zealand. Her latest collection, "52 Men," was published by Red Hen Press last fall. She has also published in literary journals, including "Poetry" and "The Rumpus," including the recent "How to Date a Writer" which can be reviewed online at: http://therumpus.net/2015/09/funny-women-132-how-to-date-a-writer/

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Wareham Leonard immigrated to New York City, where she attended Dalton School and the United Nations International School. She graduated from Columbia in New York with a degree in Comparative Literature and Society. At Columbia, she was awarded the Andrew D. Fried Memorial Prize for excellence in critical and creative writing. She represented Columbia in the Glascock Intercollegiate Poetry Contest. Along with New York and New Zealand, she has lived and worked in Mississippi, Europe, the Caribbean and the outback in Western Australia.

Living internationally features in her writing, and Wareham Leonard reflects on her unique ancestry and heritage.

She said: "New Zealand has a strong, strong pull for me. We drove all over both islands when I was a girl, staying at motels with hot swimming pools and Maori dances, visiting the pancake rocks and Mt. Cook and Franz Josef Glacier. I have come back from New York several times as an adult to live for extended periods in Wellington, and always ended up in Paekakariki. Turns out I have ancestors there and around Whanganui, and recent revelations around that have made my visceral attachment to New Zealand make more sense. It's something powerful and unexpected, a draw to the intensity and stunning beauty. I have a good mind to come back and live in a campervan in Northland sometime. On the other hand, my education was mostly Northeastern American and that, as well as being turned inside out – from a quiet reserved NZ girl to an outspoken New Yorker – has formed my personality and my sensibilities as a writer. It's an odd mix. I have often felt flung out into the world, but now I realize I actually have ties."

JoNelle Toriseva, director of English, Communications and Media Arts, knows Wareham Leonard through their work on the literary publication, "Tin House," where work is reviewed and considered for inclusion in the magazine.

Four students recognized in GCC's 15th annual Poetry Contest

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Like most libraries, Alfred C. O'Connell Library at Genesee Community College has books on shelves, computer workstations quietly humming, and people absorbed in their studies, projects and research. But, Thursday, April 14th, GCC's esteemed Library gave life to written prose through the 15th annual Student Poetry Contest Award Ceremony. 

The First Prize -- Body of Work winner is Catherine McCabe-Strong. She lives and works in Rochester and is studying in GCC's Paralegal Studies program. She was drawn to GCC because the courses looked both interesting and challenging. She said, "In my creative writing, I draw inspiration from the Imagist movement started by Ezra Pound in 1912. His three main tenets were to treat the object of the poem directly, to not waste a single word, and to use the musicality of phrases, rather than force meter. These are all things that I take to heart when writing." She has a novel, "Julius Constantine Chang," available through Amazon. And later this month, a very short piece of her prose, "Teatime," will be published by The Flash Fiction Press on their Web site, theflashfictionpress.org. Her poems are "Clementine," "Clovelly Beach" and "Night."

Second Prize winner for her poem "Fly" is Amanda Sterzick. She is a self-described late blooming artist. She found her talent late in life and has experimented and self-taught herself in several different mediums. She is a Digital Art major and decided to attend GCC because she wanted to learn how to create art in the digital medium. Her poetry is a physical manifestation of her emotions. She said, "Pain, amusement, anger, joy, rage and sometimes inspiration just take me and I can't do anything else until my poetry OCD is satiated." She writes a lot of poetry and has several versions of her poem "Fly," noting that the last three lines change the most. She is an Honors Program student and plans to graduate with an Honors Diploma after the fall 2016 semester and then continue to pursue her studies. She has artwork that she has created to accompany this poem -- a mixed media canvas, and Professor Pam Swarts would like her to include the poem in the digital art show and create a digital composition for the poem. Amanda resides in Batavia.

Third place winner for her poem "Delayed Ambition" is Maureen Moriarty, an administrative assistant major at GCC. She has dabbled in poetry most of her life and enjoys going to poetry readings. Maureen resides in Medina. 

Honorable Mention honors go to Jennifer Hanson, a student from Arcade. Her poem is entitled "Open Road." In her spare time, she plays the cello, paints, draws and writes. She comes from a large family and has two brothers and two sisters. She is attending GCC because it is very cost effective and a good stepping stone and she wasn't quite sure of her major when she started. She is now a Fine Arts major, and her favorite courses have been painting classes taught by Heather Jones. She writes poetry usually at the end of the day, and prefers to write in a journal and then type out the poem if she wants to share it. She says, "I feel like putting pen to paper is a better artistic process for me than typing." 

Winning poems are posted on the library Web page: http://www.genesee.edu/library/about-the-library/poetry-contests/.

Judges for this year's contest were: Mary Jane Heider, Sarah Karas, Bob Knipe, Michelle Salvia, Jim Simon and Nina Warren. More than 50 poems were submitted this year. Winners were awarded prizes of gift cards, poetry anthologies and blank journals.

"Following a successful Scholar's Day and the College's annual Creativity Conference held the day before, the Library's annual Student Poetry Contest Awards Ceremony further celebrates student achievement and opportunity at GCC," said Cindy Hagelberger, Reference Services librarian and instructor. "I am already looking forward to the launch of our 16th annual contest next spring!"

For more information, contact Cindy Hagelberger, Reference Services Librarian (585) 343-0055 ext. 6231 or via e-mail: CSHagelberger@genesee.edu.

GCC's Toriseva named 2015 award winner in contest on 'Winter in Variations' poetry, photography

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Finding beauty in a Western New York winter is not always an easy thing to do. For Genesee Community College's JoNelle Toriseva, director of English, Communications and Media Arts and assistant professor of English, channeling the sometimes treacherous outside conditions into works of poetry and photography recently earned her recognition from the public charity Writers Rising Up.

It named her the Winter in Variations: Bill Holm Witness Poetry Contest Winner, Writers Rising Up to Defend Place, Natural Habitat, Wetlands for 2015.

The contest required a submission of six original, unpublished poems about witnessing some everyday occurrence in winter and additional photography, which is not Toriseva's strong suit.

"When I received the email that I had won, I was surprised," Toriseva said. "I was also very happy; however, they told me that I needed to take pictures of what I considered winter and I am more apt to be the person who gets a photograph of someone's feet or the back of their head, so I sought help."

Toriseva called on Joseph "Joe Z" Ziolkowski, GCC instructor of Photography, who guided her through taking shots outdoors with surroundings that included freshly fallen snow. The photographs, candid's of crab apple trees on the GCC Batavia Campus and a few of brush in the Bergen Swamp at dusk, were accepted by the organization as part of her winning submission.

Writers Rising Up is a public charity that focuses on nature education and writing through the literary arts at community events, contests, workshops, literary performances interpretive installations and publications. The organization hosts numerous poetry and literary contests, competitions and events for writers to submit and perform literary interpretations related to place, natural habitat and wetlands.

Toriseva's award-winning work included original poems titled "Perceive," "Dart," "Talking in Snow: A Short History of Sound," "The Benchmark of Winter," "Crossing" and "Winter, December #73," and can be viewed online at http://www.writersrisingup.org/all-contests/essay-winners/j-r-toriseva-bill-holm-winner.

A native of rural Minnesota, the home state of the award-honoree Bill Holm, Toriseva grew up an admirer of the author of nine books of both poetry and essays.

"I have known about Bill Holm for a long time. He is a staunch supporter of nature, which greatly interests me," Toriseva explained. "The fact that the Writer's Rising Up organization and the award raise awareness about wetlands and natural habitat makes this very special to me."

For further information about Writer's Rising Up and to view Toriseva's award-winning work, including her photography, visit the organization's Web site: http://www.writersrisingup.org/.

"Mine" for Poetry Contest, entries due by Friday July 19

By Leslie DeLooze

Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross St., Batavia is presenting a “Mine” for Poetry Contest for adults in the "Dig into Reading" Summer Reading Club (free and easy to join). Dig into a page of text — from a book, a magazine, or a newspaper (Please make a copy, if it is not yours!). Find words to make a poem...and eliminate the rest as artistically as possible. Samples are available at the library. Entries are due at the library by Friday, July 19 at 5 p.m. and prizes will be awarded.  More information is available at the library, by calling 343-9550, ext.

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GO ART! announces winners of student poetry contest

By Billie Owens

GO ART! has announced the winners of the 2012 Genesee/Orleans Student Poetry Contest.

Students from schools in both counties were invited to participate.  
The winners in Genesee County are:

  • Ian Edwards -- Grade 2, Alexander
  • Will Johnson -- Grade 5, Byron
  • Emily Leone -- Grade 6, Le Roy
  • Anna Dembowski -- Grade 12, East Bethany

GO ART! announces Student Poetry Contest

By Billie Owens

Press release:

GO ART! is happy to announce the 2012 Student Poetry Contest in Genesee and Orleans counties. The contest is open to all students from kindergarten through college age. Prizes and
certificates will be awarded in categories by grade range in each county.

GO ART! sponsors this contest in conjunction with Present Tense Books, Bindings Bookstore, and The Book Shoppe.

Guidelines and Entry forms are available on the GO ART! website (www.goart.org). They may also be picked up at:

  • GO ART! -- Seymour Place, 201 E. Main St., in Batavia
  • Present Tense Books -- 101 Washington Ave. in Batavia
  • Bindings Bookstore -- 28 W. Bank St. in Albion
  • Book Shoppe - 519 Main St. in Medina.

The entry deadline is April 20.

For more information, contact GO ART! at 343-9313 or  email: info@goart.org; Present Tense Books at 815-7640; Bindings Bookstore at 283-4498, or The Book Shoppe at 798-3642.

The contest is made possible, in part, by the New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Photos: Present Tense/GoArt! poetry contest winners

By Howard B. Owens

Winners of the 5th Annual National Poetry Contest -- sponsored by Present Tense Books and Gifts and GoArt! -- were announced Friday. Some of the winners were at Present Tense on Washington Avenue, Batavia, Saturday afternoon to receive their prizes.

Pictured above are Joe Gagne, Abby Sapecky, Faith Finnin (back row), Lindsay Augello, and Chloe Shuskey.

A complete list of winners and their poems are posted on the Present Tense Web site.

Each winner received a gift certificate from Present Tense.

Seven GCC student poets earn awards in 10th annual contest

By Billie Owens

After receiving a record number of entries, the Alfred C. O'Connell Library at Genesee Community College has awarded prizes to seven student poets in its 10th Annual Student Poetry Contest.

Seventy-four poems from 38 poets were entered this year, making the largest number of poets and the biggest pool of poems to date.

First Prize went to Leanne Serrato for her work, "Wisdom of Water."

The award ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 21 in the Alfred C. O'Connell Library. Prizes will be awarded for first, second, third and fourth, as well as an award for a total body of work. This award highlights the poet whose submissions reflected overall high quality. Students were allowed to submit up to three poems.

In addition, two awards will be presented in the Math Poem category. Math faculty at Genesee offer extra credit to students who write a math-related poem and enter it in the contest.

Winners earn a certificate, a journal for future creative writing and are allowed to select an additional prize from an impressive group of gift certificates and prizes donated by local businesses and campus organizations.

This year the contest was supported by The Red Osier Landmark Restaurant, Darien Lake Theme Resort, Genesee Country Village and Museum, AVI Foodsystem, Inc., The Campus Shop, GCC Student Activities Office, and The New Courier.

First-prize winner Leanne Serrato is a nontraditional aged student at the college who has returned to GCC to further her education. She has already earned a BS degree in Zoology and a master's degree in Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Arizona State University. She aspires to enroll in GCC's Nursing program, building on her existing knowledge base.

"My ultimate goal is to combine nursing with my background in education," she said.

Leanne wrote "Wisdom of Water" in the '90s when she was taking a lot of science classes.

"I used to try to learn concepts such as chemical bonding in terms of human relationships to better understand them," she said. "This particular poem I wrote after becoming tired of hearing my friends constantly complain about unhealthy relationships they were in, yet they wouldn't change anything.

"One of my friends was actually planning her life around a guy she really didn't love and that inspired this poem."

All winning poets are listed below:

First Prize: Leanne Serrato -- "Wisdom of Water"

Second Prize: Laura Neri -- "Daddy"

Third Prize: Christina Mortellaro -- "Distortion"

Fourth Prize: Katie Clemm -- "Desire"

Body of Work Award: Jennifer Curry --  "Oh Baby, What Fools We have Been,"   "untitled," and  "Art in Me"

Math X: Shannon Mulrain -- "Numbers"

Math Y: Jade Scott -- "My Relationship with Math"

Here is the winning poem by Leanne Serrato.

"Wisdom of Water"

Do oxygen atoms sit around planning

their lives based on who they are next to (Carbon, Hydrogen etc)?

No.

If a couple of hydrogen atoms happen by,

oxygen-with its electronegative personality,

enters into a bond (short-lived as it may be)

with those Hydrogens

forming water

Is water forever?

No.

Does water think that now, since it is water, it better stay water?

No.

Throw in some heat-

get a little steam.

Drop the mercury-

get a crystal lattice.

That is the wisdom of water-

it knows when

it is time

to move on.

Chats with Calliope- Happy Poetry Month

By Joseph Langen

St. Thomas Sunrise

~A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language~ W.H. Auden

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Glad you remembered.
JOE: How could I forget that you are the muse of epic poetry and that this is National Poetry Month?
CALLIOPE: Bravo. What are you doing to celebrate my month?
JOE: I have never been much of a poet, but I did organize an open reading at GO ART! this Friday in honor of you and your sister muses. Norm Davis, editor of Hazmat Review and a poet, will host the event.
CALLIOPE: Tell me more.
JOE: Area poets are invited share their work with others seeking poetic inspiration.
CALLIOPE: Tell me about Auden's quote.
JOE: I chose it because I don't feel I have the patience to concentrate fully on poetry, I do appreciate the care poets take with their words. That much has been an inspiration to me.
CALLIOPE: Glad we could brighten your life a little.
JOE: Thank you. Talk with you later.

Conversations with Calliope- Monday, Monday

By Joseph Langen

 

Standing on one leg

JOE: Good afternoon, Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good afternoon, Joe. You were going to tell me about your next project.
JOE: A literary one, but a bit out of my league. It being National Poetry Month, I was asked to develop an appropriate program at GO ART!.
CALLIOPE: What did you come up with?
JOE: I invited a prominent poet of my acquaintance to make an appearance, but alas he was too busy this month.
CALLIOPE: And your plan B?
JOE: I decided on an open poetry reading toward the end of the month hosted by Norm Davis whom I have known for many years.
CALLIOPE: What do you expect to happen?
JOE: I’m not sure. I don’t recall one ever taking place in Batavia before.  It should be an interesting experience.  Talk with you Friday.

GoArt! hosts open poetry reading with poet Norm Davis

By Daniel Crofts

Poet Norm Davis will host an open poetry reading at 7 p.m. at GoArt!'s Seymour Place, 2901 E. Main St., Batavia. The event is free, open to the public, and includes refreshments.

Davis is the editor of Hazmat Review, a Rochester-based literary publication, and has hosted open-mike poetry readings at various locations in Rochester.

For more information, please visit www.goart.org or contact GoArt! by phone at 343-9313, or e-mail <info@goart.org>.

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Author Joan Murray will do a poetry reading at Genesee Community College

By Daniel Crofts

Joan Murray -- author, poet, editor and playwright -- will do a dramatic poetry reading at GCC's Batavia Campus from 7 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 22.

The reading will take place in the Stuart Steiner Theater, followed by a book-signing. Copies of Murray's work will be available for purchase. 

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Present Tense presents... poetry for kids

By Philip Anselmo

Present Tense bookshop on Washington Avenue will be hosting two very special events this summer.

Poet Sally Bittner Bonn will be coming down from Rochester to lead the World of Poetry half-day workshop "designed to help children explore the poetry in everyday life, from the cracks in the sidewalk to the sound of a whirring engine."

World of Poetry will run from 1:00 to 4:00pm on August 13 at the shop, 101 Washington Ave. Children 8 to 12 years old may attend. A registration fee of $25 is due by August 2 to reserve a spot in the workship. Children will read published works for inspiration and engage in writing exercises to "fine-tune their own writing."

Bonn is a poet and a performer in Rochester.

She teaches creative writing workshops throughout Western New York and has published a book of her own poetry, Walking Woman. Sally participated in the 2001 Poetry Slam competition in Seattle and is the curator for the 25 & Under poetry series at Writers & Books in Rochester, which spotlights young poets under the age of 25.

Just a few days after the workshop, Present Tense will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of Anne of Green Gables at an all-ages event August 16 at 1:00pm.

The celebration will include refreshments featured in the book, such as raspberry cordial. Selections from the book will be read and participants will be invited to share their favorite part of the book or a remembrance of their first time reading it. Costumes are encouraged; those who come with red wigs or puffy sleeves will be eligible for prizes. The event is free and open to the public, but please RSVP to Present Tense by August 9 if you plan to attend.

Call (585) 815-7640 to register for the workshop or find out more information about either event. You can also visit Present Tense online at PresentTenseBooks.com.

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