Awards will be announced April 14
The Lanier Library has received a record number of entries for this year’s Sidney Lanier Award Poetry Competition. In the adult competition, 147 entries were submitted, and in the high-school competition, 58 entries were submitted. These were record numbers for both competitions, amounting to a total of 205.
This is the fourth year of the annual competition and the organizers said they were pleased with both the record number of participants and the broad geographical area from which entries were submitted. Through the efforts of library personnel and volunteers, they were able reach out to the entire two-state area, mailing notices to almost all libraries and public and private high schools in North and South Carolina and sending press releases to more than 120 newspapers and other media from the Smoky Mountains to the Outer Banks.
Judging is now under way by the two-state judging team, North Carolina’s Poet Laureate Cathy Smith Bowers and the renowned poet and author from South Carolina, John Lane. There will be three prizes in each category, with the top awards of $500 in the adult competition and $100 for the winning student, and additional awards for honorably mentioned poems.
Awards will be announced and presented at the Lanier Library on Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m. Everyone is invited to the presentation to hear readings of the winning poems and meet the judges and the winners over refreshments following the ceremony.
The Lanier Library, located on the corner of Chestnut Street and Melrose Avenue in Tryon, is the oldest institution in Polk County.
Founded in 1890 by five women when Tryon had only 25 houses, it was supported then, as it still is, by its members and remains today one of only 16 membership libraries in the United States. It receives no funding from taxes but relies on the support of its members and local foundations. New members are always welcome.
– article submitted by Frances Flynn