Poetry For Peace

Last evening, I had the great honor of presenting awards to the winners of the 2013 Poetry For Peace reception at Fairfield University (the photo from the right is of Nels Pearson and a young reader from last year's event). This year, the celebration was hosted at Fairfield's Quick Center and because of the kindness of friends, Trina Paulus, and the National Writing Project, I was able to give winners a copy of Hope For the Flowers and a scholarship to attend one of the three young writers' institutes the Connecticut Writing Project hosts on campus.

There is something amazing about hearing first graders through 8th graders recite their poetry, center stage, at a mic in front of hundreds of people: family, faculty, friends, students, and teachers. Each reads their poems, orating how peace poetically moves them as writers.

In short, the evening was extremely special and the hard work of reviewers, organizers, and writers culminated in an excellent way to spend a friday evening. It's the weekend now, though, and I'm ready to catch up on work!