Showing posts with label Hessler Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hessler Street. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Hessler Street Fair Winners!


The winners of the 2019 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest have been announced!  Congratulations to Valentina Ventura, first place, for her poem "The Sound of Emptiness."
Valentina Ventura reads "The
Sound of Emptiness" at the
Hessler Street Fair poetry
contest reading
 (photo by John Burroughs)

As well as:
  • First place, Valentina Ventura, for "The Sound of Emptiness."
  • 2nd place, Georgia Reash, for "Me and Mother Nature"
  • 3rd  place (tie), Kevin Frederick Smith, for "Among the Roots"
  • 3rd  place (tie), Tam Polzer, for "Rust in Peace"
  • Honorable mention, Hannah Gates, for "Hiatus"

The winning poets received cash prizes, and will read their poems from the Hessler Street Fair stage on Sunday, June 2nd at 12:45 p.m. All stage events, poetry and music will be broadcast live on WRUW-FM.

This 2019 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest reading felt extra special since the entire fair will be on hiatus after this year. It took place at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Cleveland Heights. Over half of the 60 poets published in the book read and participated in the event. 

The Hessler Street Fair Poetry book has just been published by Writing Knights Press, and is available now and will be on sale at the 50th Annual Hessler Street Fair on June 1st and June 2nd (at the Hessler t-shirt booth) or at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry. All proceeds go to the Hessler Neighborhood Association, which has been sponsoring and funding the book and subsequent contest for about 20 years.

See you at the fair!

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest announced

Deadline is coming right up on Monday, so I thought I'd repost this to remind everybody to send their poems in!
Note the change from the originally planned date-- the reading is now set for May 11.

Hessler street fair 2019 poster

Writing Knights has announced the 2019 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest.

The Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest is one of the longest-running poetry events in Cleveland, it features cash prizes, and it's free to enter.
The best of the poems submitted are selected and printed in the Hessler Street Fair anthology, and the poets are invited to read their poems at a reading in May to select the winners.  The top poets will earn a slot to read on the main stage at the fair (simulcast on the radio), June 1 and 2, 2019.
Contest submissions close on April 15, so get your poems in now!
The reading for the contest top places will be held at Unitarian Universalist Society on May 11, 2019 at 7pm. About 20 minutes after all participating poets have read, the winners will be announced and prizes handed out. If you have won 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Place in the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest in the last three years, you are welcome to submit to the book and read your poem, but you will not be eligible to win a prize. 

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Hessler Street Fair winners!

image of the cover of the Hessler Street Fair anthology from Writing Knights
Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology 2018, from Writing Knights
The Hessler Street Fair poet read on Wednesday night at the Happy Dog, hosted by Master of Ceremonies Azriel Johnson-- an evening of poetry & hot dogs.

The 2018 Hessler Street Fail Poetry Contest winners:
  • First Place: Sy Castells, "Gender Confirmation"
  • Second Place: Ross Martyn Hayes, "The Homonym Garnok"
  • Third Place: Mary A. Turzillo, "Don't Mention You're From Cleveland"
Hessler poems will be performed on the main stage at the Hessler Street Fair on Sunday June 3rd, and broadcast live on WRUW-FM, 91.1 MHz (as well as live over the Internet).
The 2018 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology is available at the Mac's Backs booth at the fair on June 2nd & 3rd, or buy it directly from Mac's Backs.

photo of poet Tam e. Polzer reading
Tam e. Polzer reads her poem "Gotu Kola", as MC Azriel Johnson follows along 
  • If you didn't catch the Hessler reading at Happy Dog, you can see it on video on Youtube at the Writing Knights site.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Hessler Street Fair Winners!


The 2017 Hessler Street Fair poetry contest reading was at the Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern tonight.  Some great poems, and great performances.
Congrats to the winners of the 2017 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest:
  • First place (tie):
    • Vince Robinson, "Star Struck"
    • Christine Howey, "I Was a Male Impersonator for 40 Years"
  • Second place:
    • Devlinbleu Chambers "Environmental Super Nova"
  • Third Place:
    • Keely Aaliyah, "I Am a Soldier"
Photo of the winning poets
The winning poets at Happy Dog: (left to right) Keely Aaliyah, Christine Howey, Devlinbleu Chambers, Vince Robinson (photo by GL)
The winners will perform on the main stage at the Hessler Street Fair June 3-4 2017 11 am to dusk (watch this space for details of the time), and simulcast live on WRUW-FM 91.1. The Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology (published by Writing Knights Press) with the winning poems as well as all the contributed poems for the contest, will be available at the Mac's Backs booth at the fair, or can be purchased for $14.00 from Mac's Backs Books on Coventry or from Writing Knights Press.

Cover of Hessler Street Fair Anthology

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

An Erie poet visits Cleveland's Barking Spider Tavern for the first time to attend the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest and writes a poem about the experience



MY FIRST VISIT
by Chuck Joy

not my last
the same parking ramp

I made my way to the shrine
no madonna, not even a grotto
a tavern, a drinking place
named after a species of jungle arthropod
limited food options

it’s midafternoon
the joint soon to overfill
maybe only one guy without his poem included in the anthology
selling like hotcakes, a woman at the griddle

I sat at a table in the back
three of us: me, a guy like me
white tee-shirt, him with no jacket
and a poet from Erie

my turn came around halfway
I gave an honest reading
maybe that crowd would have preferred their poet
wearing a visor and hunched over the microphone
delivering his message in an antique drone
yellow glow pouring from a lamp with a metal shade
they liked me okay

the host, experienced, kept us to our agenda
the judges completed their work
winners were chosen
I might have toasted them with more porter
if I weren’t a designated driver


Chuck Joy [photo by Chandra Alderman]

Chuck Joy is the author of Said the Growling Dog (Nirala Publications). From Erie, where he frequents Poets' Hall, Chuck has brought his poetry to Mac's Backs, Mahall's 20 Lanes, and has appeared at every Snoetry. His poem "The Call of The Water" was included in the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology published by Crisis Chronicles Press.

The Barking Spider Tavern is located at 11310 Juniper Road in Cleveland.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Congrats to the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Winners!

Image of Hessler Street Fair anthology
Congratulations to Rosemarie Wilson ("One Single Rose") for her poem "Motown Blues," winning first place in the annual 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest, and to Tanya Grossner Pilumeli and Mindi Kirchner-Greenway for their second and third place finishes.


The winners of this year's Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest are:
The poets will read the winning poems at the 2016 Hessler Street Fair on Sunday 22 May at 2 pm, with the reading simulcast on WRUW-FM 91.1.
Read the poems in the 2016 Hessler Street Fair anthology, available from Mac's Backs-Books On Coventry and at the Fair itself.  Read more about it here.

Hessler Street fair information block

Friday, May 6, 2016

Hessler Reading This Saturday!

The annual Hessler Street Fair poetry reading is always the event of the year in Cleveland poetry, and it looks like this year it will be even more spectacular than ever.  This year's reading will be at the Barking Spider Tavern in Cleveland this Saturday, starting at 3pm, with the winning poems performed on stage at the festival, with a live simulcast on the radio.
And all the poems will be in the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology, released by Crisis Chronicles Press at the reading on Saturday.  Can't make the reading? You can purchase the book at the Mac's Backs booth at the fair, or direct from Crisis Chronicles, or pick up a copy from Mac's Backs.
This year's book features a bounty of poets, both local and from distant cities:
  • A.D. Adams, 
  • Stephanie Alexander, 
  • Michael J. Arcangelini, 
  • Jameson Bayles, 
  • Dianne Borsenik, 
  • Colton Bose, 
  • Jeffrey Bowen, 
  • Nancy Brady, 
  • Steve Brightman, 
  • Theresa Göttl Brightman, 
  • Christina M. Brooks, 
  • Skylark Bruce, 
  • William Burkholder, 
  • Chad Burrall, 
  • John Burroughs, 
  • Joann Celleghin, 
  • Michael Ceraolo, 
  • Shelley Chernin, 
  • Charles Cicirella, 
  • Lorraine Cipriano, 
  • Victor Clevenger, 
  • Wanda Morrow Clevenger, 
  • Caitlin Blair Cogar, 
  • Juliet Cook, 
  • A.S. Coomer, 
  • Roger Craik, 
  • Subhankar Das, 
  • Lori Dean, 
  • Patricia Dengler, 
  • Christine Donofrio, 
  • John Dorsey, 
  • Kevin Eberhardt, 
  • Poetessa Leixyl Kaye Emmerson, 
  • Diane Vogel Ferri, 
  • Richard Ferris, 
  • Francine Flatley, 
  • Justyce Foss, 
  • Kelle Grace Gaddis, 
  • Joshua Gage, 
  • Hannah Gates, 
  • Christopher Alexander Gellert, 
  • Ken Gradomski, 
  • Michael Grover, 
  • Jennifer Hambrick, 
  • Richard Harries, 
  • Charles Robert Hice, 
  • Veronica Hopkins, 
  • Alina Howard, 
  • Christine Howey, 
  • Dionne D. Hunter, 
  • Clarissa Jakobsons, 
  • Azriel Johnson, 
  • Chuck Joy, 
  • Stan Kaufman, 
  • Sue Kaufman, 
  • Diane Kendig, 
  • Kim the B-word poet, 
  • Mindi Kirchner-Greenway, 
  • Paul Koniecki, 
  • Leonard Kress, 
  • Tom Kryss, 
  • Lori Ann Kusterbeck, 
  • Jill Lange, 
  • Phyllis Lee, 
  • Lennart Lundh, 
  • Susan Mallernee, 
  • Marc Mannheimer, 
  • Julie Ursem Marchand, 
  • Elizabeth Marino, 
  • Jonie McIntire, 
  • Sarah McIntosh, 
  • Frankie Metro, 
  • Marisa Moks-Unger, 
  • Anne Marie Moore, 
  • Laura Moore, 
  • Tracie Morell, 
  • Leah Mueller, 
  • Elliot Nicely, 
  • Tanya Pilumeli, 
  • Alois Polzer. 
  • Tam E. Polzer, 
  • Valentina Ranaldi-Adams, 
  • Brianna Robinson, 
  • Melissa Rose, 
  • Damian Rucci, 
  • Rikki Santer, 
  • Sharon M. Senal, 
  • Elizabeth Senn, 
  • Aisha Marie Smith, 
  • Kevin Frederick Smith, 
  • Rob Smith, 
  • Steven B. Smith,
  • John Stickney, 
  • Katherine Sturniolo, 
  • Brian W. Taylor, 
  • Jonathan Thorn, 
  • Anna Marie Tokarsky, 
  • Kerry Trautman,
  • Mary A. Turzillo,
  • D.R. Wagner, 
  • Scott Wannberg, 
  • Alinda Dickinson Wasner, 
  • Laura Grace Weldon, 
  • Madison Whitacre, 
  • Rosemarie Wilson,
  • Eva Xanthopoulos.

Sunday, March 6, 2016

2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest & Anthology


During the month of March 2016 Crisis Chronicles Press is accepting submissions for the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest and its corresponding anthology. Contest is free to enter and open to anyone age 14 and up. Winners will receive cash prizes and get to read their poems live at this year's Fair.
  • 1st Place winning poet will receive $100
  • 2nd Place winning poet will receive $50
  • 3rd Place winning poet will receive $25

 

When and where:

Submissions will be accepted from March 1st to March 31st 2016. We will let you know by April 30th if your work has been accepted for the anthology. Poets will be invited to read their accepted works during the contest reading. The poetry contest reading will take place May 7th, 3 pm, at the Barking Spider Tavern, 11310 Juniper Road, near the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Shortly after the reading, our panel of judges will select three winners to receive cash prizes and read live at the Hessler Street Fair itself.

The 2016 Hessler Street Fair will take place May 21st and 22nd from 11 am to dusk, rain or shine, on Hessler Road and Hessler Court in Cleveland. The exact time of winning poets' reading will be announced soon.

 

Before you submit, please read these guidelines:

  • Submit up to 5 original poems or 5 images of your own original art via email to hesslerpoetry@crisischronicles.com (no snail mail entries, please).
  • Please include your name, street address, city, state, zip code, telephone number and e-mail address with your submission(s).
  • Please remember the deadline is midnight on March 31st. We will not have time to consider works submitted later than that.
  • Poets and artists published in the book retain all rights to their work.
  • Any accepted art work will be printed in black and white.
  • Unpublished work is preferred. But previously published work is acceptable if we love it (let us know who the original publisher is so we may include them in our acknowledgments).
  • The contest reading will be held at the Barking Spider Tavern on Saturday May 7th, 2016 at 3pm. About 20 minutes after all participating poets have read, the winners will be announced and prizes handed out. If you have won 1st, 2nd, or 3rd Place in the Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest in the last three years, you are welcome to submit to the book and read your poem, but you will not be eligible to win a prize. Prize winners are also expected to read on the designated day during the Hessler Street Fair.

 

Contributor copies:

Contributors to the 2016 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology will be able to purchase a copy of the book for half price from the Hessler Street Fair Booth during the Fair, or at Mac's Backs Books, 1820 Coventry Road in Cleveland Heights (216-321-2665 / macsbacks.com). We regret that we cannot afford to provide free contributor copies in print at this time. However, we will make a free pdf version of the book available to the public in late 2016.

 

FCC Guidelines:

Poetry has always been an integral part of the Hessler Street Fair, sometimes having its own stage on the street and sometimes combining with music on the main stage, but always doing something interesting. The top three winners will be given the opportunity to read from the stage at the Hessler Street Fair, simulcast on live radio and the web, during the Fair. Poetry read on air must not include any words designated to be obscene language by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

We welcome a diversity of styles and subject matter. Poems that don't meet the FCC guidelines can still be submitted and may be accepted for publication in the book. But they won't be eligible to win a prize since the winning poems will be read on air.

 

Special thanks to:

Friday, May 15, 2015

for the godfather, daniel thompson (1935-2004)


Jeffrey Bowen's poem "for the godfather, daniel thompson (1935-2004)" was awarded first place in the 2015 Hessler Street Fair poetry contest.  He will be reading it from the main stage at the Hessler Street Fair at 1:45 p.m. (right before the Cats On Holiday set at 2:00 pm) this Sunday, May 17th; broadcast live on WRUW-FM 91.1.
Daniel Thompson (photo by John Hauserman)

for the godfather, daniel thompson (1935-2004)


at the outpost coffee house you said, “you seem like a nice kid, now go away”
at the “together help line” it was, “hey kid, don’t i know you?”
after a reading of some hot-off-the-press buddhist third class junkmail oracle jazz,
you advised, “try to stay out of jail”  then offered your card, “just in case”

years later, down in kent, you got right in my face,
and said, “nice work, ever read at a junk yard?”

poet laureate, king of hearts, jack of the arts

tradesman, fisherman, great grey chief

bondsman, bread man, blanket man, thief

stealing time, and offering rhyme in return, you backed me into gigs:
“can you pick me up?” “got a minute?”
“what are you doin’ right now?”
“any poems on you?”

so we did militant larynx, midnight poets, at the arabica, hart crane’s valentine,
and readings in honor of d.a. levy and langston hughes,
PAND at cain park, dan’s slam, luigi’s in your ear, mark’s reader,
barry’s library, suzanne’s book store,
on stage at CPT, hessler street fair, barking spider,
and gigs with sparks, salinger, melton, drumplay and brother ray

so when they say, “did you know him well?”
i say, “hell, every poet did”

and every one of the hundreds who actually went to church that day
had something to say, a poem to read, a story to tell
Jeffrey Bowen reading at the
Hessler Street Fair poetry contest May 13
(photo courtesy Sean Thomas Lemonhead)

so, with a kiss of the ring and a wave of the hand,
i say thank you to the best damn poet in the land
of cleve,
from which, so many artists eventually split

but not you, daniel,
you stayed, and the band played,
and we all got paid
in smiles,
and miles of poems,
good deeds,
words to heed

and we still hear you in the wind
as it whips across the flats, cuts carefully up superior,
takes one-o-five to east boulevard, then jogs to juniper
whispers across the mic at the spider,
and playfully rustles leaves and tussles hair,
at the annual hessler street fair

--jeffrey bowen



To read the rest of the 2015 Hessler Street Fair poems, get a copy of the 2015 Hessler Street Fair Anthology, available at the Mac's Backs booth at the Hessler Street Fair this weekend, or directly from Mac's Backs. 



bio
jeffrey bowen

poetry & percussion


Jeffrey Bowen’s poetry has been published by Art Crimes, Cicada, Cool Cleveland, Crisis Chronicles, Cleveland State University Poetry Center, Dimensions, Doan Brook Watershed, Excursions, Green Panda Press, Hessler Street Fair, Procrastination Press, Poet’s League of Greater Cleveland, The City, The Cleveland Reader, and Whiskey Island Magazine He is one of six poets profiled in the 1995 documentary, “Off the Page”. Four of his poems are featured on “Cleveland Tumbadors,” an album of Traditional Afro Cuban Music and Latin Jazz on Fame City Records. Jeffrey is the resident poet & conga player with the band, Cats On Holiday, and his poetry appears on their CD, “Holiday in a Box” from COHTONE Records. Jeffrey’s poetry is among the “Top Ten Cleveland Poems” in both 2013 and 2014. His tribute to Poet Laureate Daniel Thompson won the 2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology Competition. Jeffrey’s writing has also appeared in Call & Post, City News, Cool Cleveland, EcoWatch, Elephant Journal, Girl Scout News, GreenCityBlueLake, Heights Observer, Live Cleveland, Neighborhood News, Nonprofit Notes, Sun News and various Habitat for Humanity publications.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Hessler Winners!


cover of Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology 2015

Congrats to the winners of the 2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest:
  1. First Place: Jeffrey Bowen, "for the godfather daniel thompson (1935-2004)"
  2. Second Place: Lori Ann Kusterbeck, "Simple Ways"
  3. Third Place: Sean Thomas Dougherty, "Surgery"
  4. Honorable Mention: Christine Howey, "The Killer Turkey of Malabar Farm"
If you missed the reading last night at the Ensemble Theatre in Coventry-- you missed the poetry event of the year.  This was the biggest reading ever-- it was amazing.  But you can still hear the winning poets: The winners will be reading on the Hessler main stage at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday May 17th.  And WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland will be broadcasting live from the Hessler Street Fair this weekend. If you can't be there in person,  tune Sunday at 2!
Or, buy the 2015 Hessler Street Fair Anthology. This is one great book-- 129 pages, 104 poets, $14-- that's not even fifteen cents per poet. Available at the Mac's Backs booth at the fair this weekend, or directly from Mac's Backs. 
And, if that's not enough, don't miss the annual Hessler Poetry Jam hosted by Ray McNiece and his Tongue-in-Groove band, from 2 to 5 p.m. on May 16th at the Barking Spider.  ("The Hessler Fair's annex for adult beverages"-- Ray McNiece).

--and don't forget to make some time this weekend to go to the Hessler Street Fair itself: music, crafts, booths, dancing, face-painting & harmony park for kids, and an overall good time, 11 am to dusk, Saturday and Sunday.  Map


Saturday, May 2, 2015

2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest 5/13 at the Ensemble Theatre

The 2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology will be released Wednesday 13 May 2015, 7 p.m., at [PLEASE NOTE NEW LOCATION] the Ensemble Theatre, 2843 Washington Blvd. (in the old Coventry School building, a just a few minutes walk from Mac's Backs) in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Book contributors are invited to read their selected poems that night. Immediately after the reading, a panel of judges will select three winners from among the readers.  Those winners will receive modest cash prizes ($100, 50 and 25) and be expected to come read their poems Sunday 17 May at 1:45 pm at the Hessler Street Fair, broadcast live on WJCU.



We also encourage you to check out the annual Hessler Poetry Jam hosted by Ray McNiece and his Tongue-in-Groove band, from 2 to 5 p.m. on May 16th at the Barking Spider.  Select poets including the Hessler poetry contest winners will be invited to share their poems accompanied by the band.

Thank you to everyone who submitted, and congratulations to the following poets whose work was selected for inclusion in the anthology!

Alexis-Rueal — “Lard”
Michael J. Arcangelini — “Telling My Father about Paradise”
Dana Aritonovich — “I Realize It’s Over”
Thandiwe Augustin-Glave — “My Heart”
Stephen M. Benefit — “You & Yours”
Cyndi Birkmeier — “Mom with Love”
Kim Boccia — “The Perfect Shade of Red”
Rose Mary Boehm — “Heimweh is more than a flesh wound”
Dianne Borsenik — “Flower Power”
Jeffrey Bowen — “for the godfather daniel thompson (1935-2004)"
Steve Brightman — “The Full of Eternity”
Christina M. Brooks — “Black River Falls”
Patricia Brodsky — “Almost Home”
Skylark Bruce — “Inside Pressure”
Chad Burrall — “Cold Memories”
Michael Ceraolo — “Mobservation #13”
Kathleen Cerveny — “Rosetta Stone”
Shelley Chernin — “How to Choose Sides in a Circular Argument”
Charles Cicirella — “Resurgence”
Caitlin Cogar — “Blowing Away”
Roger Craik —“Lake Erie Midges”
Subhankar Das — “She Hated Dogs”
Natalie Dickerson ­— “A Gift of Luck in the New Year”
Christine Donofrio — “Looking in the Mirror”
John Dorsey — “Steve Goldberg Death Poem”
Sean Thomas Dougherty — “Surgery”
Robin Wyatt Dunn — “Waiting”
Poetessa Leixyl Kaye Emmerson — “Diorama: The Persistence of Dreams”
Michael Fiala — “For Tamir”
Giselle Fleming — “The Night They Found You”
Diane Vogel Ferri — “Cleveland”
Ethan Fittro — “The Rose That Grew from Concrete”
Luba Gawur — “Kali”
Ken Gradomski — “Dream Driving”
Dana Grant — “Room”
Susan Grimm — “Questions for the Moon or the Moon Like a Shut White Eye”
Zachary Scott Hamilton — “Years in a Seahorse”
Austin Heath — “Yoshimitsu’s Teeth”
Charles Hice — “Ici”
Veronica Hopkins — “1140 West 4th”
Christine Howey — “The Killer Turkey of Malabar Farm”
Preston & Paul Hrisko — “Ode to the Moustache”
Clarissa Jakobsons — “The Morning Wind Whispers”
Azriel Johnson — “Sentinels”
Krysia Jopek — “The City of Z”
Jeremy Jusek — “The Garrettsville Boardwalk”
Janne Karlsson — “Rock Bottom” / “Grim Reaper”
Diane Kendig — “Taking Daniel Thompson into Maximum Security”
Kim, theBwordpoet — “Left”
Ian Koenig — “Temptation”
Leonard Kress — “Jazz Chops”
Tom Kryss — “Cleveland Extension”
Craig Kurtz — “Informer’s Catechism”
Lori Ann Kusterbeck — “Simple Ways”
Geoffrey A. Landis — “Shout”
Jim Lang — “Throat”
Jessica D. Lewis — “My Wrists as an Exit”
Lennart Lundh — “Elegy”
Caitlyn Lux — “The Cantaloupe”
Susan Mallarnee — “spring joggers”
Marc Mannheimer — “The Same Chord”
J.W. Mark — “Expiring”
Molly McCann — “Summer Berry”
Bob McNeil — “A Versified Voyage”
Ray McNiece — “The Sun’s Life Insurance”
Lila McRainey — “Silver Lining”
Philip Metres — “Compline”
Marisa Moks-Unger — “Lanterns over Lido”
Patrick O’Keeffe — “On the Back Page”
Mary O’Malley — “I Sit in Contemplation of Stones”
Ashley Pacholewski — “Ruby Slippers and Kansas”
Renee Pendleton — “The Strength of Weaving”
Tanya Pilumeli — "Ritual"
David S. Pointer – “The Lyrics Really Meant”
Sally Queen — “No One Can Hear Me”
Ben Rader — “Zombieku”
Valentina Ranaldi-Adams — “Irises”
Georgia Reash — “Love Beyond”
Poetess REDD — “Super Glue”
Elizabeth Rees — “Comfortably Numb”
rjs — “we won.”
Amy Rosenbluth — “The Unraveling”
Elizabeth Rudibaugh — “The Soft Wind Blows By”
S. Renay Sanders — “Easter Shoes”
Heather Ann Schmidt —“The Star”
Erika Schoeps — “Shame”
Dennis Shanaberg — “Daylight Returns”
Kevin Frederick Smith — “Error”
Larry Smith — “Two Places at Once”
Steven B. Smith — “Daylight Savings Time”
Vladimir Swirynsky — “Brief History about Nothing in Particular”
Brian Taylor — “Silent Night, 1914”
Joseph Testa — “Why All Alone?”
Steve Thomas — “Heaven”
Jonathan Thorn — “Drifting Light”
Kerry Trautman — “Borrowing Your Shower”
Nick Traenkner — “Midnight. West Park Cleveland. April 16.”
Mary A. Turzillo — “Sonnet 65,000,000 BC”
D.R. Wagner — “Gasping for Breath”
Mary Weems — “Blue Heron Sonnet”
Batya Weinbaum — After the Fight”
Laura Grace Weldon — “Earthbound”
Eva Xanthopoulos —“You Undid My Spiral Galaxy & I’m Still Dizzy”
Shkehlaht Yisrael — “Samot”

Peace, love and poetry,
John Burroughs, editor
Crisis Chronicles Press

Monday, March 23, 2015

2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology and Contest

It's time to submit to the 2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology. If your poem gets chosen for the book, you'll be invited to read it 5/13 at Mac's Backs-Books On Coventry. Immediately after the reading, three winners will be selected. Winners receive cash prizes and the opportunity to read live and on the radio during the Fair itself.  But even if you don't wish to compete, you are welcome to submit to the book.



The rest of the story:

Submit up to 5 original poems to hesslerpoetry@crisischronicles.com. Please include your name, street address, city, state, zip code, and telephone number with your submission. (No snail mail entries, please.) Word docx preferred. Otherwise, in the body of the email is acceptable.

Entry deadline is April 20th, 2015. We will let you know by April 30th if your work is accepted for the anthology. On Wednesday May 13th, 2015 at 7pm, a qualifying round of readings by those whose poems have been selected will be held during the book's release at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry. About 20 minutes after all poets have read, prize winners will be announced and prizes will be handed out.

1st Prize $100
2nd Prize $50
3rd Prize $25

Open to ages 14 and up.

Poets published in the book may purchase one contributor's copy of the 2015 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Anthology the evening of the release at Mac's Back's or from the Hessler Street Fair Booth at Hessler Rd. & Hessler Ct. during the days of the 2015 Fair for half price. Full price will be charged for additional copies.

If you have won in the last three years you can submit to the anthology but will not be eligible to win a prize.

Prize winners are also expected to read on the designated day (May 16th or 17th) during the Hessler Street Fair.

Poetry has always been an integral part of the Hessler Street Fair, sometimes having its own stage on the street and sometimes combining with music on the main stage, but always doing something interesting. The top three winners will be given the opportunity to read from the stage at the Hessler Street Fair, simulcast on live radio and the web, during the Fair. Poetry read on air must not include any words designated to be obscene language as stated by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.

Once again, all entries should be emailed to hesslerpoetry@crisischronicles.com. Happy writing!

1820 Coventry Road
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
(216) 321-2665

For more about the Hessler Street Fair, established in 1969, please visit hesslerstreetfair.org.

Cited...

The poet doesn't invent. He listens. ~Jean Cocteau