9th Annual Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Contest Reading, June 1

Not only has this reading become an annual event in the Capital District of Albany, NY but the contest itself been an annual event world-wide for the last 9 (!) years. 

Bob Sharkey, local poet & point-man for the DiBiase contest, said that there were 620 entries, 40% from outside the USA, many from Nigeria, as has been the case for a number of years. He read an excerpt from the First Prize poem, “The War is Past” by Habiba Dokubo-Asan, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. 

Guy Reed who is a poetic presence in the mid-Hudson valley was a Fourth Prize winner, & he joined us to read his poem “What Memories Are Carried in Light” that cites not only famous painters, like Edward Hopper, & poets whose work were “carried in light,” but also places throughout the US where Guy had traveled. In his follow-up remarks, Bob noted that his son Matt, who is one of the judges, had traveled the US, much like Guy, & for that reason connected to the poem.

Barbara Ungar, a prolific local poet, read her poem, “October,” for which she received an “Honorable Mention,” a piece taken from her October journal about her partner, Stu Bartow, who was dying from cancer at the time. 

Another Honorable Mention, Charlie Rossiter, made the trip over from Bennington, VT (he hosts a monthly Zoom open mic on the 2nd Tuesday of each month), to read his descriptive poem “Memorial Day,” a bit of Americana.

Emma Marie Duke’s Honorable Mention love poem, “Monday Morning, Early” was read by Bob Sharkey; she is a poet in Cambridge, MA. Barbara Ungar was back to read local poet Bunkong Tuon’s poem “How to Defeat Pol Pot” from his recently published chapbook What Is Left (Jacar Press). Another local poet, James Duncan, read his ethereal prose poem “Pastoral.” 

Alana Pedalino, joined us from Nutley, NJ to read her poem “Surveying” about a visit from men from Fish & Wildlife to count lampreys in a creek on her property, filled with undercurrents (& not just the creek).

Jackie Craven, who also hosts a Zoom open mic, hers on the 2nd Wednesday of the month, read her poem (Finalist) “Federation Agents Ask Whether I’ve Ever Been Married” from her recent poetry collection Whish (Press 53).

One of the Honorable Mention poets, Sara Lynn Eastler from Rockport, ME had send a video presentation of her reading her poem, “The Unpassing,” but technical issues prevented it from being heard. However, one can read her poem, as well as all the other winning/honorable mention/finalist poems on the website 

And Barbara Ungar brought the afternoon to a conclusion with Tara Labovitch’s poem “Grief II;” Sara is from Ames, IA.

For the last nine years Bob Sharkey & his family have supported this broadly inclusive poetry contest from their family finances. The rules are simple: one poem per contestant, any style, any length, published or not, & there is no entry fee. The Prizes run from $600 for First, down through the Honorable Mentions of $60, of which there were 10 this year. The time has come to find another way to finance this endeavor for it to continue to a 10th year, or more. I, for one, would love to find a way to continue the Stephen A. DiBiase Poetry Contest. Stay tuned.