From Sam Barbee, president, and our friends at the North Carolina Poetry Society:
The North Carolina Poetry Society is honored to announce the forty-eight poems to be featured on Poetry In Plain Sight posters have been chosen, and they are outstanding, all fitting our program’s high standards.
Ninety-two poets from all around North Carolina submitted over 250 poems. All were of high quality, so you can imagine what a difficult time our three judges had narrowing in down to forty-eight.
One update: we had planned to launch the program in our Host Cities—Winston-Salem, New Bern, and Burnsville—in January, 2021. Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases around the state, we are postponing the launch until April—Poetry Month! For the kick-off, we will feature poems by Jaki Shelton Green, our current NC Poet Laureate, and also three former Poets Laureate: Fred Chappell, Joseph Bathanti, and Shelby Stephenson.
Other cities that are under consideration for participation are Asheboro, Oxford, Sanford, and Wilmington. Those discussions were also stalled due to the pandemic.
Once again let me thank all the poets who participated, plus our ongoing sponsors: NC Writers’ Network, Winston-Salem Writers, Press 53; plus our Judges, and Host City Coordinators for their dedication.
Please click here for a full list of 2021 Poetry in Plain Sight poems.
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Launched in Winston-Salem in 2013 by Winston-Salem Writers, Poetry in Plain Sight brings North Carolina poetry and poets to the public.
In December 2019, under the guidance of former WSW President and Poetry in Plain Sight Program Director Donna Wallace, Winston-Salem Writers officially signed over Poetry in Plain Sight to the North Carolina Poetry Society (NCPS). Under this arrangement, the program is now administered by the Board of NCPS and will streamline expansion to new host cities statewide.
For current information about Poetry in Plain Sight, including current submission guidelines, submission calendar, and contact information, visit the NCPS Poetry in Plain Sight Page https://www.ncpoetrysociety.org/pips.