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February 2025 with Cathy Hollister
LET’S GUZZLE A GHAZAL
The ghazal (rhymes with muzzle) is an ancient form of poetry from 14th Century Arabia. Originally used to profess love or express the pain of unrequited love, modern poets use the unique structure of the ghazal for a variety of topics. In this generative workshop we will explore the history of the form, identify the most common elements, read excerpts from classic and contemporary ghazals, and draft a few lines on a topic of your choice.
About the Presenter
Cathy Hollister is the author of Seasoned Women, A Collection of Poems published by Poet’s Choice. A 2024 Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee, her work has been in Eclectica Magazine, Burningword Literary Journal, Smoky Blue Literary and Arts Magazine, The Ekphrastic Review, and others. Cathy is a retired public health professional and fills her days with dance, church choir, hiking and lots of family time.
MEETING INFORMATION
This program will be presented during our upcoming PST member meeting, to be held February 8 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern / 1:00 – 3:00 pm Central via Zoom. Members will be provided a link a few days prior. If you are interested in learning more about PST, check out our website. If you’d like to attend our meeting as a guest, contact us at poetrytennessee@gmail.com.
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January 2025 with Adam Lambert
CONFESSIONAL POETRY
Confessional poetry is dominated by themes of intimacy, self-revelation, and tragedy. But not everyone is Sylvia Plath. This workshop aims to generate “seeds” for confessional poems, and give you direction on how to write confessionally without airing your dirty laundry, word-for-word.
About the Presenter
Adam Lambert is a writer and marketing professional living in Johnson City, TN. He’s written Super Bowl commercials, launched global marketing campaigns, and published dozens of poems. Adam was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for his confessional poetry at age 20, and continues to write intimate poems about place and people.
MEETING INFORMATION
This program will be presented during our upcoming PST member meeting, to be held January 11 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern / 1:00 – 3:00 pm Central via Zoom. Members will be provided a link a few days prior. If you are interested in learning more about PST, check out our website. If you’d like to attend our meeting as a guest, contact us at poetrytennessee@gmail.com.
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December 2024 Poetry Contest Results
The Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST) formally announced its members-only December 2024 contest results at their December 14 member meeting. Winners receive cash prizes. The first place poem will be published in an upcoming edition of PST’s anthology, Tennessee Voices.
Many thanks to sponsor and judge JoAn Howerton and co-judge Crystal Robbins Czerwinski, who selected the following winners:
- 1st: “A Christmas Card from the Ghost of Christmas Future” Kayla Nichols
- 2nd: ” Paper Windows” Laura Gunnels Miller
- 3rd: ” Even the Lights Rejoiced” Cynthia Storrs
- 1HM: ” Ode to Snow Cream” Pat Hope
- 2HM: ” Christmas Haiku” Cathy Hollister
- 3HM: ” Rocking Chair Snow Day” Chrissie Anderson Peters
Enter Your Poem
Meeting attendees enjoyed the readings of these winning poems.
February’s contest is open for submissions January 1-15. “Crazy for Cliches” Any form or subject, but use those trite ideas we’ve all been warned to avoid. Focus on a poetic cliche. Many thanks to sponsor PST-Knox (East TN study group) from member Sally Boyington and judge Claudia Stanek.
March’s contest is open for submissions February 1-15. An ekphrastic poem in response to the picture shown below. Many thanks to sponsor and judge Janet Qually.
Entrants may mail or email entries. Mailed entries must be postmarked within the open submission period. Get contest details.
Not a member? It’s not too late to join. Learn more.
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Tennessee Collegiate Poetry Contest Winners Announced
In September, Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST) announced a new poetry contest for college students of all levels enrolled in a college or university located in Tennessee: the Tennessee Collegiate Poetry Contest. Poets were invited to enter one original, unpublished poem. Today, we are pleased to announced the winners of this contest:
- 1st Place: “Still” by by Tate Haugen, Tusculum, Greeneville
- 2nd Place: “East TN Autumn” by Kelsey Ann Guy, East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Johnson City
- 3rd Place: “Thistle’s Crime” by Kiersten Paxton, Tusculum, Greeneville
- Honorable Mentions
- “Citico” by Major Joshua Frerich II , Tennessee Wesleyan University, Athens
- “Chipped Front Tooth” by Erika Perez Cortazar, ETSU, Johnson City
Winners receive $100 for 1st prize, $50 for 2nd, and $25 for third and their poems will be published in Tennessee Voices Anthology, 2024-2025. PST is grateful to Northeast Tennessee Regional Representative Fred Tudiver, whose donation funded prizes for this contest.
Many thanks to our readers Jake Lawson and Fred Tudiver, to entry coordinator Sean Kyte, and to our esteemed contest judge, Linda Parsons.
Standout Poems
Judge Linda Parsons had the following comments about the winning poems and honorable mentions:
- “Still” stands tall among the rest with its many surprises and mastery of craft. The conceit of stillness takes several shapes and turns and holds the reader to the end. I also admire the forbidding edges in this poem. These edges attract rather than repel, a fine balance.
- “East TN Autumn” contains surprising language and imagery while being full of inventive contradictions (sweet autumn/her chaos). A beautifully longing homage to fall in Tennessee without a note of sentimentality.
- “Thistle’s Crime” is a masterful use of rhyme and language in the Romantic tradition, with the well-constructed metaphor of thorns/vulnerability. The musicality here is wonderful!
- I love the specific details and narratives in the honorable mentions, both fine and humorous meditations on change.
About Linda Parsons
A poet, playwright, essayist, and editor, Linda Parsons is the poetry editor for Madville Publishing and the copy editor for Chapter 16, the literary website of Humanities Tennessee. She is published in such journals as The Georgia Review, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Southern Poetry Review, Terrain, The Chattahoochee Review, Shenandoah, and many others. Her sixth collection is Valediction: Poems and Prose. Five of her plays have been produced by Flying Anvil Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. She is an eighth-generation Tennessean.
About Tate Haugen
Tate Haugen is a Wisconsin born writer who moved to Appalachia for college. His free time is spent exploring nature and what it means to be a hunter. He is an avid outdoorsman which his writing shows.
About Kelsey Ann Guy
Kelsey Ann Guy is a junior at East Tennessee State University studying Media & Communications with minors in Creative Writing, Fine & Performing Arts, and French. She is a scholar of the Honors College at ETSU for poetry. She hopes to pursue a career in public relations and continue creative writing after graduation.
About Kiersten Paxton
Kiersten Paxton Kiersten Paxton was born and raised in Bristol, TN and is currently an English major at Tusculum University. She’s worked as the Assistant Fiction Editor for the international journal The Tusculum Review. Her poem “Take Longer” was published in Tennessee Voices Anthology, 2022-2023. In 2023, she won the Curtis Owens Literary awards for Fiction, Nonfiction, and Drama. She enjoys music, books, and experimenting with different writing styles and genres. She’d like to become a full-time writer after her graduation.
About Major Frerichs
Major Frerichs is a creative writing student in the BFA English program at Tennessee Wesleyan University. He lives in Vonore, Tennessee.
About Erika Perez Cortazar
Erika Perez Cortazar is a graduate student at East Tennessee State University. She is currently serving as one of the executive editors of the 52nd edition of the student literary magazine, The Mockingbird.
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PST 2024-2025 High School Contest Deadline Nears
The High School Division of our 2024-2025 Student Contests are nearing submissions deadlines. High School entries must be postmarked by December 21, 2024. We invite all eligible students to submit a poem.
Contest Divisions and Deadlines
High School Division (Grades 9-12) Free Verse Poem — postmark deadline December 21, 2024
Middle School Division (Grades 6-8) Free Verse Poem— postmark deadline February 22, 2025
Elementary Division (Grades 2-5) Any Poem Form — postmark deadline February 22, 2025Who is Eligible?
The competition is free and open to all Tennessee students in grades 2-12. Public, private, and home school students are eligible. Each student may submit only one poem.
Non-Tennessee residents may compete by joining the Poetry Society of Tennessee as Student Members. Get membership information.
What do Winners Receive?
Contest Awards: 1st place $25, 2nd $20, 3rd $15, 4th $10, and 5th $5.
Winners will be announced on the PST website in the spring. Winning poems will be published in the 2024-2025 edition of Tennessee Voices.
Get More Details
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December 2024: Creation in Collaboration
Group Work
In film, too often writers are depicted as loners, maybe a little off, situated in an isolated spot or perpetually alone in a crowd (usually a coffee shop), struggling through the writing process (typically involving paper being crinkled and tossed in disgust) or joyfully in flow (seen in a broad smile peeking over a computer laptop amidst speedy key clicks). Perhaps some truth lies therein. Perhaps. But do we really go it alone?
We writers know how others are part of our work process, whether in inspiration drawn from their work, through shared tips or discussions in workshops, or through myriad other collaborative efforts. This month’s workshop explores how we “go it together.” Let’s explore the ways writers can work together to progress in the art, craft and generation of poetry. We’ll also have some fun creating poetry alone together and as a group. Bring your ideas and be prepared to share experiences as we discover both time-tested and unique techniques and other happy surprises of group work.
About the PresenterS
PST Board members Jake Lawson (Program chair) and Lisa Kamolnick (President) will facilitate this interactive session. Attendees will also have the opportunity to win poetically themed items in drawings.
MEETING INFORMATION
This program will be presented during our upcoming PST member meeting, to be held December 14 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm Eastern / 1:00 – 3:00 pm Central via Zoom. Members will be provided a link a few days prior. If you are interested in learning more about PST, check out our website. If you’d like to attend our meeting as a guest, contact us at poetrytennessee@gmail.com.
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New Poetry Collection from Jeff Price
Poetry Society of Tennessee member Jeff Price’s second poetry collection, A World So Filled, is now available for pre-order. He will appear in the following northeast Tennessee venues this December to read, sign and sell his book:
- December 3- Book signing in the Science Hill High School Library from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
- December 6- Book release party at The Generalist from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
- December 8- Local Writer event at Grand Furniture in Kingsport from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m.
Advance Praise for A World So Filled
“Jeff Price’s second poetry collection, A World So Filled tells the story of a speaker who has listened for the “Damascus Road voice” and writes to share the love story. With this unified group of poems, Price’s “words are maps” for his readers to contemplate time and God’s mysteries–musings that link like chain mail passed down from one adventurer to another.
—Seth Grindstaff, friend and colleague
A World So Filled: A collection, published through Redhawk Publications, is available for pre-order.
How to Purchase (Including Signed Copy!)
You can email Jeff at wartopper@gmail.com to order directly from him. Include your snail mail address. Jeff will send you “a signed copy and a badass bookmark.” A quick-pay option is available via Venmo (see below).
- Shipped purchases cost $20 ($16 for the book, $4 for shipping and handling).
- Local purchases $16
- Student Rate $15
You can pre-order at a discount through the publisher (but no autograph or sticker).
The books are also available through Amazon or Barnes&Noble.
About the Author
Jeff Price is now in his thirty-third year as an English teacher, twenty-four at Science Hill High School in Johnson City, Tennessee. He spent thirty-eight years coaching wrestling on all levels, a career which earned him a spot in the Tennessee Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and has included stops in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. He currently resides in Johnson City with his wife Julie, as well as a pair of cats, Mister and Cleo, and his new boon companion in training, Cash the puppy, yet another rescue dog who is rescuing him.
PST News
Poetry Society of Tennessee 