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Hill-Stead Museum Seeks Young Poets
Every year since 1993, a handful of Connecticut high school poets are chosen from over one hundred of their peers to perform in Hill-Stead Museum's renowned Sunken Garden Poetry Festival in Farmington. The six or seven winners are named the festival's "Fresh Voices" and represent the best of Connecticut student writing. The students enjoy a summer of one-on-one mentoring with professional poets, read original work at three public venues in Greater Hartford, and perform in the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival before a crowd of 1,200-plus poetry lovers. Past winners have worked with poets as notable as Connecticut poet laureate Marilyn Nelson, Pulitzer Prize nominee Sue Ellen Thompson, and award winning poet Rennie McQuilkin.
Now in its eleventh year, the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival is a nationally acclaimed, free summer event that brings renowned and emerging poets together with cultural enthusiasts numbering in the thousands. As the country's longest running outdoor free poetry event, the festival each year attracts such world class poets as Library of Congress Poet Laureate Billy Collins and Frost Medallist Sonia Sanchez. This summer, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa will kick off the 11th season on Wednesday, June 12. Winners of the Young Poets Competition 2002 will present "Night of Fresh Voices" on Wednesday, August 7.
The festival's Young Poets Competition is open to all Connecticut high school students who have not won previously; the entry deadline is March 18. Entrants may receive competition guidelines and forms by calling 860-677-4787, ext 111. Guidelines for entering are available by calling 860-768-4451; more info is also available at <www.hillstead.org>.
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