Book Notes

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: October 19, 2008

Spaar, Wright will read their poetry

University of Virginia poets Lisa Russ Spaar and Charles Wright will give readings at 8 p.m. Thursday at the University Bookstore.

Wright is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize in poetry.

In other UVa news, the MFA Reading Series will continue on Monday.

This week Carolyn Creedon and Mike McGrath will read from their work at 8 p.m. at the Tea House on the Downtown Mall.

For details about either event, call 924-6675.

W&L contest seeking state’s best poem

Shenandoah and the Virginia Poetry Center at Washington and Lee University will be holding the inaugural Graybeal-Gowan Prize for the best poem entered by a Virginia poet.

Dedicated to the memory of Priscilla Gowan Graybeal’s father, Howerton Gowan, the prize of $500 is donated by Mrs. Graybeal and her husband, James. In addition to the cash award, the winning poem will be published in Shenandoah and printed as a commemorative broadside.

Submissions are welcomed from all writers born in Virginia, as well as those with current established residency of a year or more. The final judge is Betty Adcock, winner of the Poets Prize and author of “Intervale” and other collections.

Participants will be notified of the winner in January.

Poets may enter as many as three poems and should send submissions postmarked no later than Nov. 14, along with a self-addressed stamped envelope and a brief biography establishing eligibility.

The address is: Graybeal-Gowan Prize, Shenandoah, Mattingly House, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Va. 24450.

For more information, call R.T. Smith at (540) 458-8908.

Amy Hempel named Rea Award winner

Author Amy Hempel, whose candid takes on modern life have brought her a small, but devoted following, has been named this year’s winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story, a $30,000 prize that in previous years has been given to Paul Bowles, Eudora Welty and Grace Paley.

A native of Chicago who lives in New York, the 56-year-old Hempel has published such acclaimed collections as “Reasons to Live” and “The Dog of the Marriage.”

The Rea award was established in 1986 by Michael M. Rea, a publisher and collector of first-edition short stories who died in 1996. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in English. UVa hosts the Rea Visiting Writers and Rea Visiting Lectures.

Rita Dove will judge writing contest

Poet Rita Dove and music executive Jason Colton will return to be two of the judges for the third annual First Amendment Writes poetry and songwriting contest.

Organized by the Music Resource Center, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression and WCNR 106.1 FM the Corner, the contest puts a spotlight on freedom of expression.

Winners will be announced Tuesday.

The winner will get a $500 prize.

Ten finalists will have the opportunity to meet Dove and Colton and get their feedback when they read or perform their works at the competition’s Tuesday event at Gravity Lounge. Call 295-4784.

From staff and wire reports