Local poets of Burlington County gathered at the Medford Arts Center last Tuesday night anticipating the reveal of the juried poetry contest winners.
The contest was originally announced on Facebook, and the MAC took submissions during October.
“We like to host contests like this to promote different aspects of the arts in Medford,” Medford Arts Center Board Member Denise Pizoli said.
Participants were required to be a resident of Burlington County and at least 18 years of age.
They were allowed to submit up to three poems and there was no entry fee.
The juried poetry contest has been in Medford for eight years now. It was formerly run by the Cultural Arts Commission, and when it disband five years ago, the Medford Arts Center took the reins.
“We keep bringing it back every year because people are interested in it and it gets people into the MAC, which promotes our other activities in the process,” Pizoli said.
There were 42 contestants in the 2015 contest.
First place was awarded to Jacqueline Hogan, who received a $100 prize; second place was awarded to Wendy Abramowitz, who received a $75 prize; and third place was awarded to Mathew Kinsella, who received a $50 prize. The MAC also gave each winner a certificate.
After Pizoli announced the winners, each contestant was given the opportunity to read their work in front of the group.
“That’s my favorite part,” Pizoli said. “As much as I enjoy reading the submissions, I love getting to hear each participant read their respective poems.”
While Pizoli was able to read through most of the submissions, she was not the judge for the contest.
The winner from the previous year typically takes over as the judge for the following year’s contest if they are willing to take on the responsibility.
The highly decorated Marlton poet Daniel J. Walsh took over as the judge for this year’s contest after taking home first place last year.
Walsh has taught a workshop at Columbia University, where he earned his master’s degree of fine arts. His poetry can be found in numerous magazines, and he has received recognition from various award ceremonies.
This year’s winner, Hogan, is also an avid fan and writer of poetry, so it was a no brainer to give the MAC’s contest a shot when she saw the posting on Facebook for a poetry contest.
“I figured why not give it a shot? I write poetry, I enjoy poetry,” Hogan said.
By no means was Hogan anticipating winning the contest. In fact, she said she would have been delighted to have won third place.
The long-time poet was caught off guard when she was given the news that she had won the grand prize.
“I was very surprised, to be honest,” Hogan said.
Hogan decided to keep her poem short and sweet but wanted to push the envelope a bit with the references she made in the piece.
She decided to indirectly delve into a moment she had while living in New York using a metaphor.
Growing up in Southampton, Hogan moved to New York a few years back and was beginning to grow antsy, oftentimes asking herself when her life was really going to get started.
“That’s probably one of the more personal poems I’ve ever written. I’m usually very vague in my poetry,” Hogan said. “I like simplicity.”
Since then, she has moved back to Southampton and plans to continue to pursue her passion of writing poetry.
She also plans to put her winnings from the contest away for a “much needed” new car!
