The Patriot Spot

On Tuesday, April 29, 2008, the UT Tyler Robert R. Muntz Library held its Annual Student Poetry Awards. This was the library’s capstone even for National Poetry Month. The event took place at Braithwaite Auditorium. The keynote was delivered by the 2008 Texas Poet Laureate Mr. Larry D. Thomas. Following a reception and book signing, the event drew students and members of the community for a night of poetry and performance. We had 34 entries this year in the contest. The winners of the contest this year were:

1. Jesse Florendo for “Japan Sketch #1.”
2. Conor Herterich for “”Epitaph.”
3. Paige Hayter for “Ode to the Gardenia.”
4. Carly Thompson for “The Need for a Story.”

• And honorable mention to Jesse Florendo for “Frankenstein’s Creature Finds Solace.”

Local poet and friend of the library Anne McCrady (link to her blog here) was one of the judges for the contest. She also gave the introduction for Larry Thomas during the event. McCrady described Mr. Thomas as an inspiration to her and other poets. She also added that Mr. Thomas’s poetry comes from the heart of a visual artist. In addition, McCrady observed that Mr. Thomas sees the job of poet laureate as a gift to the people of Texas.

After the introduction, Mr. Thomas went right on with the poetry. He talked about himself, his writing, and then delighted the audience with selections of his poetry. Mr. Thomas took the audience on a tour of Texas from West to East with poems like “Wind,” “Neches River,” “Out of the blue,” and “Apricots.” After the reading, Mr. Thomas took questions and comments from the audience.

Next came the award ceremony. As part of the ceremony, the winners were asked to read their pieces. They delighted the audience with their craft and diversity of themes and images in their verse. Winners received a trophy and a signed copy of Mr. Thomas’s new book.

The library would like to take this opportunity to thank The Friends of the Arts and the members of the Texas Poetry Society for their generosity in making this event possible. Our thanks as well to Joseph’s for providing the hors d’ouevres. In addition, I took some photos of the event, which interested readers can see over in my Flickr page here.

On Wednesday, April 23, 2008, the library held its annual Poetry Read-out. We read from 10:00am to 2:00pm in the library’s reading area. This was part of the library’s programs celebrating National Poetry Month during April. We had a good number of readers who came to the library to share their favorite pieces of poetry with the audience. We came together to celebrate the beauty of language and the art of verse. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the participants for sharing their verses and the audience for their support.

Some of the highlights:

• Anne McCrady and Cheryl Cooper had a pretty lively conversation about poetry. They went back and forth, and they both read poetry. Cheryl chose selections by Billy Collins. Anne read from her own works.
• Our head men’s soccer coach, Kenny Jones, read as well. He picked his poems on the spot from the selection of books we provided. From Robert Frost to “Casey at the Bat,” he delighted our audience.
• We heard poetry in Old English when Dr. Victor Scherb gave us a history of the English language in 15 minutes through his selections.

I took some photos of the event, which interested folks can find in my Flickr account. I included brief descriptions with the photos. Here is the direct link.

We hope to see you all for next year’s poetry read-out. Happy reading!

Here are a few links which may be of interest for poetry reading during National Poetry Month. Remember that you can look up authors and titles of poetry books on our catalog, accessible via the library website.

• Public school teachers may be interested in some free activities and lesson plans from Scholastic here. Teachers: also note that the Academy of American Poets, which I linked above, also has some links of interest for teachers.
• The National Council of Teachers of English has a series of resources for teachers and other links related to National Poetry Month here.
• There is also a National Poet Laureate. You can learn about the program and find out about the laureates from the Library of Congress here.
• Where did the concept of poet laureate come from? Wikipedia has a nice overview here.
• Want to read some prize winning poetry? Here are some links:
  • Learn about the winners of the prestigious Bollingen Prize in Poetry, which is administered by Yale University.
  • There is a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Find a list of the poetry winners here in Wikipedia. Here is the official Pulitzer Prize site; however, it is not as easy to get a list from it.
  • The Claremont (California) Graduate School administers the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Find a list of the winners here.
  • The National Book Foundation, which awards the prestigious National Book Award, includes poetry as one of their categories. Visit their website where you can browse through the award lists for reading ideas.
  • The National Book Critics Circle also has its own awards, and they include poetry as well. Find a list of current (2007) winners here and previous winners here.
  • The PEN Literary Awads also feature poetry categories. The 2008 awards will be announced on April 21st. You can learn about the award and find lists of winners here.

Join the Circle of Knowledge @ Your Library: Celebrate National Library Week at the UT Tyler Robert R. Muntz Library, April 13-19, 2008.

We are celebrating National Library Week next week. We would like to invite students, faculty, staff, and friends to a small reception on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 10:00a. We’ll be serving some punch and cake. Stop by, meet our librarians and library workers, and discover why the Robert R. Muntz Library is “Your Doorway to Scholarly Research.”

It’s National Library Week, a time to celebrate the contributions of libraries, librarians, and library workers in schools, campuses, and communities nationwide–and the perfect time to discover how you can join the circle of knowledge @ your library. First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April.

The University of Texas at Tyler’s Robert R. Muntz Library is celebrating National Poetry Month during the month of April. National Poetry Month was started by the Academy of Poets in 1996, and it continues to be celebrated across the United States.

The library will be hosting several special events during the month of April, and we would love to have you join us.

• Student Poetry Contest. We are running a UT Tyler Student Poetry Contest from April 1st to April 18. Watch this blog for details and rules.
• Poetry Read-Out on Wednesday April 23.We invite students, faculty, staff and members of the campus community to participate in our Poetry Read-Out. This will take place from 9:00a to 5:00p in the library’s lounge area on the second floor. This is an opportunity to share your favorite piece of poetry with others. You can bring your own book, or we will have books on hand so you can find your favorite poem or poems and share them. You can also read your own poetry. Do note that you cannot read a poem that you have entered in the contest.
• Visit to UT Tyler by the Texas Poet Laureate on April 29. Mr. Larry D. Thomas, the 2008 Texas Poet Laureate will visit the UT Tyler Campus. His reading will take place at Braithwaite Recital Hall. Mr. Thomas’s reading will be preceded by a book signing and reception. Copies of his books will be available for purchase. You may also bring in your own copies of his books to have signed. Poetry contest awards will be presented by Mr. Thomas after his reading. Stay tuned to this blog for more details. This event is free and open to the public. It is made possible in part by the generosity of the Friends of the Arts and the Poetry Society of Texas.

For more information about National Poetry Month and special events at the Robert R. Muntz Library, you can call the Reference Desk at 903-566-7343, or you can visit the library’s website at http://library.uttyler.edu. You can also visit the websites linked above to learn more about the celebration and the Texas Poet Laureate.

(Vintage St. Patrick’s Day Card. Image licensed under a Creative Commons license. Found here, from Don Harrison)

March 17th is the holiday of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Here are some interesting facts related to the holiday, from the folks at the U.S. Census Bureau. You can find the complete document here. Did you know?

• 36 million U.S. residents claim Irish ancestry. “This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (slightly more than 4 million). Irish is the nation’s second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only German.”
• The shamrock is Ireland’s floral emblem. There are 4 places in the United States named Shamrock. One of them is right here in Texas.
• Do you like corned beef and cabbage? Are you planning on eating some today? Well, according the Census, the corned beef that goes with that traditional St. Pat’s meal likely comes from Texas, which “produced 6.8 billion pounds worth of beef.” As for the cabbage, it “most likely came from California, which produced 607 million pounds worth, or New York (462 million pounds).”

Are you looking for some more information? Maybe a game or two? The BBC has a special site for St. Patrick’s Day here. Get some recipes, play the snake game, and even send an e-card to friends.