Community members are invited to participate in one of two Big Read POEtry Contest Open Mic events on Oct. 14 and 15. Teen and adult poets are invited to share their poems on Oct. 14 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Literacy Volunteers 21 East Book Store and Café, located at 21 East Second St. in Dunkirk. Young poets are invited to share their poems on Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Fredonia Farmers’ Market, located on Church St. in Fredonia.
Both events are free and open to the public. All are invited to share poetry or just listen and enjoy!
At the Oct. 14 event at 21 East all sales from its café and book store benefit the Literacy Volunteers of Chautauqua County, and at the Oct. 15 event, kids are invited to wear their Halloween costumes, get treats from the market’s vendors, decorate a free pumpkin, and enjoy spooky stories read by SUNY Fredonia’s Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society members.
Contest winners will be recognized and awarded at both Open Mic events. A first and second place will be awarded for each of four categories: grades K-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, and adult. In addition, two “Grand Prize” winners will be selected, as well as an “audience favorite.” Winning poets will receive an age-appropriate collected works of Edgar Allan Poe and a gift certificate to the Book Nook in Dunkirk’s D&F Plaza. Honorable mention poets will be recognized at these events as well.
The Open Mic events are part of the Big Read POEtry Contest, which invited community members of all ages to submit original macabre and spooky poems earlier this fall as part of Chautauqua County’s month long celebration of Edgar Allan Poe’s works.
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and presented in cooperation with Arts Midwest, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The Chautauqua-Cattaraugus region is one of 76 communities nationwide participating in The Big Read from September 2011 though June 2012. During October, the Daniel A. Reed Libraryon the SUNY Fredonia campus, together with public libraries throughout the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus library system, will celebrate Edgar Allan Poe with a full calendar of free events. To learn more, visit www.fredonia.edu/library or join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/BigReadFredonia/.
Look for free newspaper editions of the short stories and poems of Edgar Allan Poe at your local public library and other community venues.
