NFSPS Winners!
Several GPS members participated this year in the annual contests sponsored by our national organization, the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. Several won prizes and honors, including:
- David Hutto, whose poem “If You Were Ice” won FIRST PLACE in the Alabama State Poetry contest (of 156 entries).
- Lynn Farmer, whose poem “Naming” won THIRD PLACE in the Massachusetts State Poetry Society contest (of 149 entries). Lynn also won a 1st HM in the Texas contest (152 entries) and a 6th HM in the Barbara Stevens Memorial Award (179 entries).
- Kit Schmeiser won a 7th HM in the Barbara Stevens Memorial Award(179 entries).
- Randy Mazie won a 1st HM in the Virginia Corrie-Cozart Memorial Award (122 entries), a 6th HM in our own Georgia Poetry Society Award (61 entries), and a 4th HM in the Florida State Poets Association Award (57 entries).
If you want to see the entire list, just follow this link. Our thanks to all who entered, and congratulations to those whose work was so highly thought of by their peers in poetry.
Our October Meeting Will Be F2F!
We have all missed one another, yet at this moment the pandemic seems to have reared its ugly head again. While it may not be a perfect solution for everyone, we have secured a meeting location that is essentially out-of-doors at Longwood Park in Gainesville for our next quarterly meeting. We have an open-air (but covered) shelter reserved from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM. There are bathrooms and kitchen facilities in the shelter, which seats some 35 – 50 people. Masks will be optional, though that may change as we move closer to October. Keep an eye on this website and on the newsletter for more details about presenters, program, lunch reservations (we are almost directly across the road from a Panera and several other places) and so on. The meeting is set for Saturday, October 23. Please put it on your calendar and plan to attend! Many thanks to VP Alyson Shields for setting this up for us!
The Reach of Song 2021
Our annual anthology is now available from Amazon.com and from our own GPS Bookstore. We’ve held the cost to our usual $15.00, slightly more with S/H.
Please do order a copy–or several. Maybe give one to a friend who enjoys poetry.
BTW, Amazon takes about 30% of the sale proceeds for themselves. Our bookstore has copies now and we keep all the sale proceeds so please keep us in mind when ordering. Our budget thanks you!
Our July 2021 Meeting
Our 170th quarterly scheduled for Saturday, July 24, 2021 was held online and featured presenters Kathy Ellis and Ed Nichols. Click on the hyperlinks to see the video of their readings or see our YouTube channel.
Fall Contest Cycle Begins Soon!
We had such a great response to last year’s contest cycle we thought we would do it again, with the exception being the offering of the Charles Dickson Chapbook Competition in place of the Ron Self Chapbook Contest (These will rotate every other year). We expect to open entries by October 1 and close by November 15. Keep an eye on your email, this website and the GPS Newsletter for all the details.
