THE 2022 PATERSON POETRY PRIZE WINNERS
2021 ALLEN GINSBERG POETRY AWARD WINNERS
The Poetry Center at PCCC is pleased to announce the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award winners for 2021.
FIRST PRIZE
Adele Kenny, Fanwood, NJ “One of Us”
Marion Paganello, Fair Lawn, NJ “A Picture is Worth...”
SECOND PRIZE
Arthur Russell, Nutley, NJ “Jaime”
THIRD PRIZE
Charlie W. Brice, Pittsburgh, PA “Something in Us Loves a Good Storm”
2021 PATERSON POETRY PRIZE WINNER
The Poetry Center at PCCC is pleased to announce the winner of the Paterson Poetry Prize for 2021 is Rachel Eliza Griffiths, for her collection Seeing the Body (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY).
“Rachel Eliza Griffith’s book is a multifaceted elegy to her mother and exploration of grief and of how to survive. These are beautiful and moving poems by a truly fine
and brilliant writer.” — Maria Mazziotti Gillan
FINALISTS
Ellen Bass, Indigo (Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA)
Tyree Daye, Cardinal (Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA)
Megan Fernandes, Good Boys (Tin House, St. Portland, OR)
Tony Gloeggler, What Kind of Man (NYQ Books, Beacon, NY)
Jeffrey Harrison, Between Lak es (Four Way Books, New York, NY)
Danusha Laméris, Bonf ire Opera (University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA)
PATERSON PRIZE FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
Gerald Stern, Blessed as We Were (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY)
DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE
2021 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
The Poetry Center at PCCC is pleased to announce the 2021 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE winners in three grade levels.
Grade Pre K - 3
Anica Mrose Rissi, Love, Sophia on the Moon (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, New York, NY)
Mariana Llanos, Eunice and Kate (Penny Candy Books, Oklahoma City, OK)
Grade 4 - 6
Diane Worthey, In One Ear & Out The Other (Penny Candy Books, Oklahoma City, OK)
Joseph Bruchac, The Powwow Dog (Reycraft Books, New York, NY)
Grade 7 - 12
Beth Kephart, Cloud Hopper (Penelope Editions, Oklahoma City, OK)
Anna K. Scotti, Big & Bad (Texas Review Press, Huntsville, TX)
DOWNLOAD PRESS RELEASE
2020 Paterson Prize Books for Young People Winners
Congratulations to the winners of this year’s
Paterson Prize Books for Young People.
Grade K-3 Winner
Diana de Anda for Mango Moon (Albert Whitman & Co., Chicago, IL)
Grade 4-6 Winner
Padma Venkatraman for The Bridge Home (Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, New York, NY)
Grade 7-12 Winner
Torran Anderson for Piñata Moon (Look Out Behind You Books, Tucson, AZ)
Honor Books
Bailey Sisoy Isgro - Rosie, A Detroit Herstory (Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI)
Lee Bennett Hopkins - I Am Someone Else: Poems About Pretending (Charlesbridge Publishing, Inc., Watertown, MA)
Deborah Hopkinson - Carter Reads the Newspaper (Peach Tree Publishing Company, Atlanta, GA)
Michael Bronski - A Queer History of the United States for Young People (Beacon Press, Boston, MA)
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz - An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People (Beacon Press, Boston, MA)
C.J Farley - Around Harvard Square (Akashic Books, Brooklyn, NY)
For information about this prize, see the Poetry Center’s Contest & Awards page
2020 Paterson Poetry Prize Winner & Finalists
2020 Paterson Poetry Prize Winner & Finalists
Winner: Jericho Brown
for his poetry collection,
The Tradition
(Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA)
Finalists
Reginald Dwayne Betts, Felon (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY)
Carrie Conners, Luscious Struggle (BrickHouse Books, Inc., Baltimore, MD)
W. D. Ehrhart, Thank You for your Service: Collected Poems (McFarland & Company, Inc., Jefferson, NC)
Martin Jude Farawell, Odd Boy (Sibling Rivalry Press, Little Rock, AK)
Dorianne Laux, Only As the Day Is Long: New and Selected Poems (W. W. Norton & Company, NY) 1
Vivian Shipley, An Archaeology of Days (Negative Capability Press, Mobile, AL)
Matthew Thorburn, The Grace of Distance: Poems (Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, LA)
Jericho Brown
WINNERS OF THE 2020 ALLEN GINSBERG POETRY AWARD
THE 2020 ALLEN GINSBERG POETRY AWARD WINNERS
Honoring Allen Ginsberg’s contribution to American literature, this annual poetry competition awards a first prize of $1000, second prize of $200, and a third prize of $100.
The 2020 Issue #48 of the Paterson Literary Review includes all the winning, honorable mention and editor’s choice poems.
FIRST PRIZE
Sara Henning, Nacogdoches, TX
”To My Husband, Driving into Bad Weather”
Ray Petersen, Redwood, NY
”What I Wanted When I Was Twelve”
SECOND PRIZE
Jason Craig Poole, Bethlehem, PA
”The Truth About Cats”
Mary Crosby, Ringwood, NJ
”Augury”
THIRD PRIZE
Rachelle M. Parker, Maplewood, NJ
”I Worry About Atatiana Jefferson's Nephew”
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Howard Berelson Teaneck, NJ
Lady in Blue
Theresa Burns South Orange, NJ
Green
Felicia Sanzari Chernesky Flemington, NJ
Mother Tongue
Laura Didyk Great Barrington, MA
Poetry's House
Catherine Doty Boonton, NJ
JC and Me in the Spring of 64
Christopher Duffy Wood-Ridge, NJ
When Men Wore Fedora's
Jim Dwyer Saint Petersburg, FL
Love Poem (nothing wrong but all the usual)
Maria Famà Philadelphia, PA
Daddy's Little Cap
Linda Nemec Foster Grand Rapids, MI
A Modern Parable for the End of the World
Jonathan Greenhause Jersey City, NJ
My Father's across the Atlantic, on the verge
James D. Gwyn Clifton, NJ
In Plain Sight
Catherine Hardy Los Alamos, NM
For a Student Who Wrote About Suicide and Who is Absent Today
Valarie Hastings San Francisco, CA
State of Emergency
Mary Jo LoBello Jerome New Hope, PA
I Dream What My Mother Means to Say
Diane Khoury Cresskill, NJ
My Mother and Her Piano
Raphael Helena Kosek Hopewell Junction, NY
Foggy Morning at the Autobody Shop
Jennifer Lagier Monterey, CA
I Remember Him
Annie Lanzillotto Yonkers, NY
Nerina
Antoinette Libro Sea Isle City, NJ
Mail Order Mother
John H. McDermott Jr. Cranford, NJ
Gone Fishing?
Gloria G. Murray Deer Park, NY
I could have been a hippie
Lesléa Newman Northampton, MA
My Mother Is At The Bridge
F. L. Niccoletti West Orange, NJ
My Watch In a Sow's Ear
Lisa Coll Nicolaou Fair Lawn, NJ
My Great Grandmother's Smile
Marion Paganello Fair Lawn, NJ
Lipstick
Jennifer Poteet Montclair, NJ
Jewels
Wanda S. Praisner Bedminister, NJ
After the Saturday Matinee
Arthur Russell Nutley, NJ
The Jetty
Lori Ruzich Verona, NJ
Pop's Advice
Gwen T. Samuels Albuquerque, NM
South of the Border
Margaret R. Sáraco Montclair, NJ
The Unlocked Door
Maxine Susman Princeton, NJ
Home Phone
Clare Ultimo Brooklyn, NY
Sex for Beginners
Jamie Wendt Chicago, IL
Sadelle Freeman, 1941
Xandt Wyntreez Montclair, NJ
Do You Ever Think of Me?
Neal Zirn Denver, CO
Depression-era Frugal
EDITOR’S CHOICE
EC Florence Ames Woodland Hills, CA
Stillness
Anne-Marie Brumm New York, NY
Why My Mother Never Read Any of My Poems
Amanda Latrenta Crane River Edge, NJ
Scotch Tape Nails
Alyssa Dugasz Woodbridge, NJ
The Scent of Us
Janine Horber Washington, NJ
Praise
Josh Humphrey Kearny, NJ
Summer of the Sinkholes
Laine Sutton Johnson Hillsborough, NJ
My First Love
Gina Logan Braintree, VT
Alexander
Greg Masters New York, NY
Harry James
Margaret Gish Miller Gig Harbor, WA
It's Not That He Raped Me
Meryl Natchez Kensington, CA
The Primary Handbook
Tina Schumann Seattle, WA
Why I Read the Obits
Donna Spector Warwick, NY
The Compleat Wife, 1962
Shane Wagner Chatham, NJ
Feeding My Son
Bill Wunder Langhorne, PA
Winter on Searsburg Mountain, Vermont
Poetry Center at PCCC Celebrates 40 Years
Founded in 1980, when Ms. Mazziotti Gillan was an adjunct instructor of English at PCCC, The Poetry Center had humble beginnings, but grew steadily, even attracting participation from the celebrated Allen Ginsberg, a one-time Patersonian who became the voice of the mid-20th century Beat Generation.
Today the Center hosts readings and workshops that draw presenters and attendees from all over the country, publishes the respected Paterson Literary Review, administers annual poetry contests, and fosters community outreach with programs such as Poetry in Prisons.
The standing-room only crowd that gathered for the celebration is a testament to her influence.
One by one, speakers took the podium to tell their personal story of Ms. Mazziotti Gillan and the Center.
“Maria has done a fantastic job here,” said Dr. Steven Rose, president of PCCC. “Wherever I go, people tell me they’ve heard of The Poetry Center.”
Congressman Bill Pascrell, who was instrumental in locating PCCC in Paterson, recalled the earliest days of the Center. “I remember readings back in the 80’s when there were three people in the room, and I was one of them,” he said. Then he surprised the crowd by reading from two of his own poems.
Mark Hillringhouse, a fine-art photographer and frequent collaborator with Ms. Mazziotti Gillan, commended her achievement through metaphor. Gesturing toward a stunning photo he took of the Center, bright against the night sky, the retired PCCC professor said the design showed that against the city of Paterson, “the Poetry Center gives light and illuminates.”
Calling Ms. Mazziotti Gillan “a visionary,” fellow poet and workshop leader Laura Boss told of their travels together through Sicily, Paris, Wales and other locales where they performed readings and led workshops.
The program included readings of proclamations from state, county, and local officials. New Jersey governor Phil Murphy calls the Center “a beacon of the Passaic County community” and “a haven for artists to bloom and flourish.”
Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, hailed it as “an essential resource for the City of Paterson” that “offers working-class people and recent American immigrants a new way of looking at American life through literature, art, and culture.”
2019 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize
Winners of the 2019 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize
We offer our congratulations to the Winners of the 2019 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize.
FIRST PRIZE
Francesca Maxime, Brooklyn, NY,
and Marc Harshman, Wheeling, WV
SECOND PRIZE
Edwin Romond, Wind Gap, PA
THIRD PRIZE
June Avignone, Rochester, NY
For a complete list of winners & poems, and honorable mention poets and their poems, click here for a printable pdf press release.
2019 PATERSON POETRY PRIZE WINNERS
WINNERS OF THE 2019 PATERSON POETRY PRIZE
Daniel Donaghy, Somerset (NYQ Books, New York, NY)
“Donaghy writes brilliantly about growing up in a hard-scrabble neighborhood in Philadelphia,
and explores complexities of love and sorrow, shame and gratitude.”
Sean Thomas Dougherty, The Second O of Sorrow (BOA Editions, Ltd., Rochester, NY)
“In this amazing, tender, passionate book, Dougherty peels back all the self-protective shields
under which he has hidden truths even from himself, and lets the reader experience all the
people who inhabit his world. In so doing, he reveals his own vulnerability.”
— Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Executive Director, The Poetry Center
FINALISTS
Suzanne Cleary, Crude Angel: Poems (BkMk Press, University of Missouri-Kansas City, MO)
Matthew Dickman, Wonderland: Poems (W. W. Norton & Company, New York, NY)
Chanda Feldman, Approaching the Fields: Poems (LSU Press, Baton Rouge, LA)
Maria Giura, What My Father Taught Me (Bordighera Press, New York, NY)
Allison Joseph, Confessions of a Barefaced Woman (Red Hen Press, Pasadena, CA)
Michael Lally, another way to play: poems 1960 – 2017 (Seven Stories Press, New York, NY)
January Gill O’Neil, Rewilding (CavanKerry Press, Fort Lee, NJ)
Danny Shot, Works (CavanKerry Press, Fort Lee, NJ)
The Paterson Poetry Prize of $1,000 is given annually by the Poetry Center to a book of poetry (48 pages or more) published in the previous year. Submission deadline is February 1, 2020.
2019 WINNERS of the PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
2019 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Grade Pre K - 3 Winner: Kathleen Contreras for Harvesting Friends (Arte Publico Press, Houston, TX)
Grade 4 - 6 Winner: Elizabeth Van Steenwyk for Blacksmith’s Song (Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, GA)
Grade 7 - 12 Winner: Daniel Acosta for Iron River (Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso, TX)
HONOR BOOKS
Lester L. Laminack, The King of the Bees (Peachtree Publishers, Atlanta, GA)
Patricia Hruby Powell, Struttin’ With Some Barbeque (Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA)
Ronald Kidd, Lord of the Mountain (Albert Whitman & Co., Park Ridge, IL)
For 2020 rules and application, visit www.poetrycenterpccc.com/awards/ or for more info, write to sdesai@pccc.edu.
2018 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
2018 PATERSON PRIZE FOR BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Grades Pre-K – 3 Winner
Lori Haskins Houran, Warts and All (Albert Whitman & Company, Chicago, IL)
Grades 4 – 6 Winner
Ruth Freeman, One Good Thing About America (Holiday House, New York, NY)
Grades 7 – 12 Winner
Mariko Tatsumoto, Gutless (Ichiban Books, Pagosa Springs, CO)
HONOR BOOKS
Grades Pre-K – 3
Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan, Mrs. McBee Leaves Room 3 (Peachtree, Atlanta, GA)
Larissa M. Mercado-López, Esteban de Luna, Baby Rescuer! (Arte Público Press, Houston, TX)
Barbara Nye, Somewhere A Bell Is Ringing (Penny Candy Books, Oklahoma City, OK)
Grades 4 – 6
Alison Hart, Leo, Dog of the Sea (Peachtree, Atlanta, GA)
Edward van de Vendel, Sam in Winter (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, Grand Rapids, MI)
Ellen Wittlinger, Saturdays with Hitchcock (Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA)
Grades 7 – 12
Michael Currinder, Running Full Tilt (Charlesbridge, Watertown, MA)
Seth Michelson, Dreaming America (Settlement House Books, Silver Spring, MD)
Donovan Mixon, Ahgottahandleonit (Cinco Puntos Press, El Paso TX)