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The Third Annual
Kenneth and Geraldine Gell
PoetryPrize 2010

2010 Gell Poetry Prize Winner Teresa Middleton

Gell Prize Winner Writers & Books and Big Pencil Press are pleased to announce that the winner of the third annual Kenneth and Geraldine Gell Poetry Prize is Teresa Middleton, a poet from Greenwood, Indiana, for her full-length-book manuscript entitled Junk DNA: A Collection of Sonnets. Ms. Middleton's book was selected by finalist judge Baron Wormser.

The Gell Poetry Prize is awarded annually for an as-yet-unpublished book of poems of exceptional quality. In addition to the fall, 2010 publication of her book by Big Pencil Press, the publishing imprint of Writers & Books, Ms. Middleton will receive an honorarium of $1000, and a residency at The Gell Center, W&B's rural retreat center in New York's Finger Lakes Region.

In his Foreword to the book, Mr. Wormser said, "The wonder of this book is how Teresa Middleton has taken a centuries-old form and made it her own, for what distinguishes these sonnets is their remarkable legerity. These poems dance. The rhymes are not impediments; they are spurs to continuous feats of fancy, insight, narrative and reflection."

Teresa Middleton lives with her daughter and husband in Greenwood, IN, and has taught English and creative writing in Indiana Schools for over twenty years. Her first book of poems, Core and Seed, was published in 2001 by Magner Publishers. She was inspired to write Junk DNA after attending an Associated Writing Programs (AWP) workshop in Vancouver, B.C. The idea that 98% of human DNA is a mystery to scientists, and that the sequences in DNA function much like language, fascinated and motivated her to experiment with the sonnet form--to write a collection containing ten strands of ten connected sonnets.

Writers & Books Executive Director Joe Flaherty said, "An unprecedented high number of entries were received in the competition this year, with many of superb literary strengths. The decision-making process was not easy."

Previous winners of the award have been Veronica Patterson in 2009, for her book Thresh & Hold, chosen by Lola Haskins; and Roz Spafford in 2008, for her book Requiem, chosen by Carl Dennis.

The Beautiful Necessity: The Regulating Lines of Claude Bragdon’s Transcendental Architecture

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 7 p.m.
$3 W&B members / $6 general public

“In nature, in number, in geometry, in music, also, there is but one law, a law infinitely simple, infinitely subtle, incommunicable, evanescent. It is what Emerson calls the Beautiful Necessity. Gentlemen, let us build altars to that Beautiful Necessity.”
-- Claude Bragdon, “Mysticism and Architecture.”
Join us for an exciting presentation by Eugenia Victoria Ellis, PhD, AIA, who with Andrea G. Reithmayr is editor of The Beautiful Necessity.

First Fridays / Wide Open Mic

Hosted by Norm Davis
Fri., August 6
Admission is free.

Along with other local galleries and performance spaces, W&B will be open on the first Friday evenings of each month hosting Wide Open Mic, and a series of other readings and performances in our Verb Café and Performance Space. Known for its eclectic mix, Wide Open Mic welcomes poets, performers, and writers of all kinds. It is Rochester’s longer-running open mic, hosted by Norm Davis, poet and editor of HazMat Review.

Genesee Reading Series

Hosted by Wanda Schubmehl
August 10: James Cook & Sally Bittner Bonn
$3 W&B members / $6 general public, 7:30 p.m

Now in its 26th year, the Genesee Reading Series presents writers from the greater Genesee Valley region reading in the W&B Performance Space.

Senior Reading Group

Hosted by Norm Davis
Tues. August 10
Free and open to the public. 2-4 p.m.

Share your writing with other seniors in a comfortable atmosphere at W&B.

Members Night Events

Wed., August 11th 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Adult
Free to W&B members

If you aren’t a member of W&B, here is your chance to join at the door and enjoy a special read-aloud with audience participation on August 11th.

The August Member Night will feature a poet and story teller, sharing the oral arts of reading aloud with a chance for audience participation. Come listen and see how words come alive in the throat, and a chance to taste them yourself.

The Bertrand Russell Society

Hosted by David White
Thurs., August 12
Free to W&B members, $3 general public, 7 p.m., W&B

The Bertrand Russell Society was formed shortly after Russell’s death in 1970. Russell was born in 1872 and worked in fields such as mathematical logic; philosophy; social, religious, and educational reform; anti-war protests and politics. An accomplished writer, Russell received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950. This ongoing lecture series promises to enlighten and entertain. Monthly meetings are open to everyone, not just to members of the society.

Click here for more August Events...

Writers & Books, Rochester's community literary center, inspires and instructs over 25,000 people each year through a wide array of offerings in nearly every literary genre. Believing that the written and spoken word are central to our lives and culture, Writers & Books celebrates, promotes and works to make them available to all. Writers & Books is located at 740 University Avenue, near Atlantic Avenue in the Neighborhood of the Arts.