2011 STATE POETRY CHAMPION CAROLYN OROSZ, 18, of Granby, a student at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, w/ CSU System Chancellor Louise Feroe and CT Young Writers Chairman Ravi Shankar and fellow board member Rand Cooper. Shankar, the poet and professor, and Cooper, the novelist and travel writer for Bon Appétit, served as co-MCs for last year's annual celebration at Central Connecticut State University.
-- Photo by Bob Thiesfield The CT Young Writers Trust gets statewide attention on Saturday morning, April 7.
Watch Ravi Shankar and Rand Richards Cooper on NBC Connecticut as they discuss the work of the Trust, the need to raise funds to help young writers, and how the public can turn out to meet novelist Wally Lamb and poet Marilyn Nelson.
Shankar and Cooper will be in a featured interview segment at 9:15 a.m. on April 7. They'll be bringing much-needed focus on the work the Trust has done, and the help it needs to keep supporting young writers in the future.
NBC Connecticut WebsiteSpecial thanks to Vince Valvo,
host of the Connecticut Real Estate Report
WALLY LAMB, MARILYN NELSON & FELICITY SHEEHY
AT THE HARTFORD CLUB APRIL 13There’s no debate for the Connecticut Young Writers Trust:
The best novelist and the best poet in Connecticut – who are also two of the nicest people in the state – will appear at The Hartford Club Friday, April 13, to raise money for the state’s longest-running young writers competition for teenage writers.
Novelist Wally Lamb and poet Marilyn Nelson have both supported the program for many years, hosting workshops, giving keynote speeches and donating generously.
The official program at The Hartford Club begins at 7 p.m., with a suggested minimum donation of $10. Joining Lamb and Nelson will be young poets and writers including Felicity Sheehy, the 2009 state poetry champion.
In a special, pre-event session, Wally and Marilyn will meet with supporters during an intimate cocktail hour at 6 p.m. They will sign books, pose for photos and mingle.
Admission to the pre-event is limited and costs $100 per person. Please RSVP by April 10 to CTYoungWritersTrust@yahoo.com
Admission to the pre-event is limited and costs $100 per person. Please RSVP by April 10 to ctyoungwriterstrust@yahoo.comThe Hartford Club, 46 Prospect St.Proceeds will be used for prize money and expenses. The CT Young Writers Trust has affirmed the work of more than 7,000 young poets and writers since 1998, awarding more than $200,000 in cash prizes.
The Trust lost funding from its primary donors to the tune of $20,000 following the death of IMPAC Chairman Jim Irwin and cuts to the budget of our long-time partner, the Connecticut State University System.
Judging will begin soon for this year's annual celebration to be held June 2 as part of Connecticut Young Poets Day at Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington. Connecticut Young Poets Day, a new feature of the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, will take place during the festival's 20th anniversary inaugural weekend.
This is the first year The Trust has accepted only electronic submissions, rather than paper via U.S. mail. The entry deadline was midnight March 31.
Trust volunteers from the CSU System are creating a database from the entries and verifying the information submitted. The entries appear to reflect the high standards of prior years, according to a preliminary review. About 300 entries were submitted, a total Trust Chairman Ravi Shankar characterized as respectable in a transition year.
“This year's competition marked a successful transition to an electronic submission system with hundreds of entries from around the state; we were very happy to save so many trees and join the 21st century,” Shankar said. “We are exhilarated to see so many talented young poets and writers compete, and we are honored and humbled to affirm their work.”
The CT Young Writers Trust is a 501 c3 non-profit charity.
Here's the link to our
donation page
Felicity Sheehy, then 16, of the Westover School of Middlebury, accepts $1,000 check and other items Sunday [May 31, 2009] at the Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford as she is proclaimed State Poetry Champion in the 2009 Connecticut Young Writers competition. With Sheehy, L-R: Franz Douskey, poet and board member of the Young Writers Trust; Dr. Louise Feroe, then Vice Chancellor, Connecticut State University System; and Co-Masters of Ceremonies Ravi Shankar, the poet and Central Connecticut State University Professor and Rand Richard Cooper, board member, author and travel writer for Bon Appetit. Sheehy, one of eight county champions, won for her poem, "Evening Conversation."
2009 -- Felicity Sheehy, Mark Twain
-- Photos by Chion WolfYale Daily News Q&A With Felicity Sheehy
-- Wally Lamb with 2000 Prose Champion Julia Wong [Hopkins School], Poetry Champion Adrian Kudler [Hall High School] and Diane Smith
-- Marilyn Nelson, the Connecticut Poet Laureate, hosts 2002 workshop. To Nelson's left is Kira Taylor, then of E.O. Smith High School, the 2002 Tolland County poetry champion. To Nelson's right is Ashley Langer, then of Litchfield High School, the 2002 Litchfield County poetry champion. Taylor is the daughter of Lisa Taylor, who now serves as Educational Outreach & Development Director for the CT Young Writers. The Taylor women share a unique honor: They are both winners of the Scholastic Poetry Prize, an honor also shared by the late Connecticut Poet Laureate Leo Connellan, the rock upon whom the young writers program was founded.
photos by India BlueHartford Courant News Story On Kira Taylor
FAIR WARNING: Leo Connellan And His PoetryCt Young Writers Trust Facebook PageTwitter@CtYoungWriterstwitter@cooljusticeCT Young Writers Trust50 Brewery Street #8898
New Haven, CT 06532
http://ctyoungwriterstrust.org
501 (c) 3 Federal Tax ID: 31-1635811
RAVI SHANKAR, Chairmanemailravishankar2011@gmail.com, 860-938-2139
CAROL THIBEAULT, AdministratorCTYoungWritersTrust@yahoo.com, 203-843-1423
LISA C. TAYLOR, Educational Outreach & Development DirectorImagine22@earthlink.net, 860-377-1008
ATTY WILLIAM CROWE, Legal Counselwcrowe@mayocrowe.com, 860-275-6801
ANDY THIBAULT, Chairman Emeritustntcomm82@cs.com, 860-690-0211
