RAC Hosts Poetry in Motion Reading, Reception Tonight

The winners of the 2013 Poetry in Motion Contest sponsored by Metro Arts in Transit, the Poetry Society of America, and the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) will be honored Thursday, Nov. 29.

The Poetry in Motion Reading and Reception will be held at The Studio of the RAC located at 6128 Delmar Boulevard in University City. Doors open at 5 p.m. with acoustical guitar music by Haitian-American Mario Pascal and the program begins at 5:30 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

The 10 contest winners—who all live within a 50 mile radius of St. Louis—have been invited to read their poems.

The winning poets are:

• Sandra A. Cannida, St. Louis;
• Antoinette Crayton, Florissant; 
• Linda O’Connell, St. Louis; 
• Heather Farrar, St. Charles; 
• Elona S. Johnson, Florissant, 
• Frank Kras, St. Louis, had two poems selected for publication;
• Madeline Jean Jackson, Florissant;
• Grady Manus, Defiance; 
• Patt Hollinger Pickett, St. Louis; and
• Aaron Williams, St. Louis. 

Poets will be presented $50 for each winning poem.

“Their 11 poems out of 115 submitted were selected by a panel of literary professionals for publication,” said David Allen, Metro Arts in Transit Director. “The poems will be displayed on MetroLink trains and MetroBus vehicles for up to one year starting after the first of the year. We will also publish their poems on the Arts in Transit website in the near future.”

The master of ceremonies for the evening is Amy Milton, a comedian from Indiana who is currently pursuing a Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The featured poet of the evening will be Jane Ellen Ibur. For nearly 30 years, Ibur has taught poetry and creative writing in non-traditional settings to an age range that stretches from kindergarten to 93-year-olds, from private school students to pregnant, homeless teens, to county jail inmates, treatment center patients, to Alzheimer’s patients. Excerpts from one of her poems were displayed on MetroBus vehicles and MetroLink trains as part of the first Poetry in Motion contest.

Ibur's poetry has regularly appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies since 1972. Later this month, she will receive the 2012 Warrior Poet Award and she is a past recipient of the Grand Center’s Visionary Award for Outstanding Arts Educator.

The Metro Arts in Transit program has sponsored various poetry and literary contests over the past two decades. The 2013 Poetry in Motion® contest receives financial support from the Regional Arts Commission (RAC) and the Missouri Arts Council.    

Poetry in Motion was launched in 1992 by the Poetry Society of America and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City to create a national readership for both emerging and established poets while making bus and subway rides more enjoyable.