A reading celebrating the publication of Man at the Railing by Edwin Romond, winner of the 2022 Laura Boss Narrative Poetry Award will be held at The Poetry Center at PCCC in Paterson, NJ on April 29, 2023.
There will be a reception with food and drinks at noon and the reading will begin at 1 pm.
This event celebrates the first Award publication which honors the legacy of poet Laura Boss.
In attendance will be Laura’s son, Barry Boss, who founded the Laura Boss Poetry Foundation. The members of the Foundation board - Michelle Lerner, James Haba, Jim Gwyn, Ken Ronkowitz and Maria Gillan - will also attend and introduce the readers. Maria Gillan was also the final judge for this initial Award. Raymond Hammond, publisher of NYQ Books that published the winning book, will also be in attendance.
All five finalists for the award will also be reading.
Edwin Romond is the author of five collections of poetry, his work has appeared in journals, college textbooks, and has been featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac. He has been awarded poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and from both the New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Councils on the Arts. His poem, “Champion,” won the 2013 New Jersey Poetry Prize. Romond was a public school teacher for 32 years in Wisconsin and New Jersey. A native of Woodbridge, NJ, he now lives in Wind Gap, PA. His website is edwinromond.com
Jennifer Poteet's work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Adirondack Review, 2River View, The Cortland Review, The Journal of New Jersey Poets, Paterson Literary Review, Pedestal Magazine, Mom Egg Review, Swwim, The Night Heron Barks and elsewhere. Her chapbook Sleepwalking Home was published by Dancing Girl Press. Her website is jenniferpoteet.com
Tony Gloeggler is a lifelong resident of NYC who has managed a group home for developmentally disabled men in Brooklyn for over 40 years. His chapbook One On One won the 1998 Pearl Poetry Prize. His first full-length collection, One Wish Left, published by Pavement Saw Press went into a 2nd printing in 2007. Until The Last Light Leaves (NYQ Books) was a finalist for the Milt Kessler Book Award in 2016. What Kind of Man (NYQ Books, 2020) was a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize. You can find Tony on Facebook.
Carole Stone is Distinguished Professor of English, emerita, at Montclair State University. She has published five books of poetry among them Traveling with the Dead (Backwaters Press) and American Rhapsody (Cavankerry Press). Her recent work has appeared in Blue Fifth Journal, Slab, and Bellevue Literary Review. She has won three fellowships from The NJ State Council on the Arts. Her book, Limited Editions will be published by Cavankerry Press in 2023.
Svea Barrett is a retired teacher. Her poems have appeared in The Paterson Literary Review, Lips, The Edison Literary Review, Griffel, The Rat’s Ass Review, The NJ English Journal, and others. Her chapbook, Why I Collect Moose, won the 2005 Poet’s Corner Press Chapbook Contest, and her book, I Tell Random People About You, won the 2010 Spire Press Poetry Award. She tied for first place in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest in 2013.
Lisa Coll Nicolaou, a graduate of Yale University, is a lifelong educator and writer. For many years she was the creative writing teacher at The Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, NJ. Lisa has been a visiting poet in the Paterson Schools since 1997 and now serves as the program director of the Theater and Poetry Project in Paterson. Her poetry and prose have been published in Oprah Magazine, Lips, The Paterson Literary Review, and other journals. In 2016, she shared first prize in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest.
For information on the Foundation and its work, go to laurabosspoetryfoundation.org