New Island poetry prize created honoring Bliss Morehead

The Shelter Island Public Library has announced the establishment of a new prize, the Bliss Morehead Poetry Grant, to be awarded to a winner each April for 10 years, beginning in 2022. The author must be an unpublished poet, 17 years of age or older, living on the East End (Riverhead and points east).

The $1,000 prize is named for Bliss Morehead, an Islander who dedicated much of her life to poetry. She died in July 2020. A gifted poet herself, she sought to share what she called “this most complex of cultural achievements.” She founded the Shelter Island Poetry Project, producing annual Poetry Month readings in April at the library.

Ms. Morehead wrote about “the frustrating and occasionally illuminating work we all take upon ourselves when we are snatched up by the demanding nanny/muse and forced to admit that yes — we are poets. Or are attempting to be poets.”

In announcing this grant, established by Ms. Morehead’s husband, Mike Zisser, the Bliss Morehead Poetry Committee expresses the hope that it will encourage more of those who are “attempting to be poets” to come forward and share their work. Members of the Committee are Robin Bennett, Mike Zisser, Jo-Ann Robotti, Karen Kiaer, Goorge Nemeth and Terry Lucas.

The theme for Poetry Month in 2022 is “Delight and Despair.” Poets applying for the award are encouraged to remember these words of Ms. Morehead’s: “I am a professional writer, editor and creative consultant, and over the years, words have been very good to me. I, in turn, have been good to them right back — taking none for granted, weeding out the excessive and overwrought so the best may shine. .. Style and diction and point of view matter a lot to me; I think about them on a daily basis.”

The entries will be judged by Irene Cornell, George Held and Charity Robey. To enter, register on the Shelter Island Library website (silibrary.org) or contact Jocelyn Ozolins at [email protected]. The deadline is April 8. The winner will be announced on April 18 and will be invited to a poetry reading on April 22.