A literary start to 2025
Beacon Poet Laureate submissions will be accepted until January 31st, 2025.
There are exciting times ahead for Beacon’s literary scene in 2025. First up is the reintroduction of the Beacon Poet Laureate program with a call for submissions from the city’s poetry community.
Originally launched in 2013, the program has been on hiatus since the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. It was originally conceived as a collaboration between the Howland Public Library and the City of Beacon.
Over the course of a two-year tenure, Beacon’s new Poet Laureate will serve as an advocate for poetry, promoting its importance within the community on behalf of the City of Beacon. They will also serve as an honorary member of the Poet Laureate Committee after completing their term.
Unleashing creativity
Howland Public Library, 313 Main Street, Beacon.
Soon after Michelle Rivas took on the position of Adult Services and Community Engagement Librarian in 2024, she wrote to the City of Beacon proposing that the program be revived.
Michelle shares, “I love seeing how each Poet Laureate comes up with creative ways to connect with the larger community. The first Poet Laureate, Larry Sansone, created something truly special. It was a blog where he crafted poems about Main Street. He even invited the public to contribute their own poems, making it interactive.”
Past Beacon Poet Laureate, Thomas O’Connell, created an interactive community poem during the Spirit of Beacon Day, as well as participating in a poetry open mic in 2016 as part of a photography show called Conflicts and Resolutions, organized by the Beacon Photography Group.
A literary project to benefit the community
The Beacon Poet Laureate program was the brainchild of Vickie Raabin—better known as Miss Vickie—who brought the idea to Alison Herrero at the Howland Public Library in 2013. She told us “I saw that Dutchess County has a poet laureate and it made me think that we are a city full of artists of all kinds. I was an illustrator for a literary magazine before I moved to Beacon, so I was keen to bring some attention to our poets.”
In time for National Poetry Month
So, what happens once Beacon’s budding poet laureates submit their work? Michelle Rivas explains, “A small nominating committee of eight people will be formed in February to choose the 2025-2027 Beacon Poet Laureate. The chosen poet should hear from us in March and a formal announcement will be made in April for National Poetry Month. A Meet the Poet event will be held at the library thereafter.”
Beacon’s past Poet Laureates
Larry Sansone, 2013 to 2014
Thomas O’Connell, 2015 to 2016
Tony Pena, 2017 to 2018
Peter Ullian, 2019 to 2020
Peter Ullian, Beacon Poet Laureate (2019 to 2020) at the Towne Crier.
(Photo credit: Harold Bonacquist.)
Peter Ullian was Beacon’s last Poet Laureate from 2019 to 2020. We asked him a few questions to help applicants understand what’s involved in the role.
“When I served, my work involved presenting at Poet Laureate events at the Howland Public Library, making guest appearances at high school creative writing classes and creative writing clubs, and reading my poems at community events such as the Spirit of Beacon Day. I also organized events at the library, bringing together former Beacon Poet Laureates and Poet Laureates from around the Hudson Valley, including the Dutchess County’s at the time. I was especially proud of these activities.”
What were some of the highlights during your time as the Beacon Poet Laureate?
“I loved every event I participated in, but if I had to choose, meeting with students at Beacon High School’s creative writing classes and the creative writing club would have to be a highlight.”
Your tenure was 2019 to 2020. How did things change once the pandemic hit?
“We were on quite a roll when the pandemic brought everything to a halt in the second year of my tenure. I had about a dozen events set up for 2020 which ended up getting canceled when the COVID lockdown happened. I did a few events online thereafter, but it wasn’t the same. I look forward to seeing what our next Poet Laureate will be able to do with two (hopefully) uninterrupted years.”
What advice would you give to hopeful candidates for this role?
“In terms of applying the position, obviously lead with your best work, but keep in mind you want to find that sweet spot where a poem is both really good and also accessible. You are communicating to Beacon citizens, not only academics or other poets. At the same time, you don’t want to dumb down your work. Of course, this is easier said than done.
“I think the hardest thing about the role is when you want to write a poem for a specific occasion—such as the Spirit of Beacon Day. It’s hard to do for many reasons, one of which is that once the occasion has passed, the poem may seem irrelevant.
“Another is that you want to write something that honors the event but isn’t pandering. If you use irony or are critical of something, you want it to be in a loving and inclusive way. This is harder than it looks because poetry is so personal, and it achieves universality through the particular, not through generalizations or platitudes.
“For me, the best way to achieve this is to approach the challenge from a different direction. For example, when I wrote a poem for the Beacon Sloop Club’s Strawberry Festival, I started with lines about an eagle I had once seen flying over the riverfront park with a fish in its talons, and it went from there.”
Can you share an excerpt of one of your poems?
“One time I was coming up to Beacon from the city after teaching, and I had a reading at the library that night. I was inspired to write a poem on the train ride, which I wrote on my phone with my thumbs—which is not how I usually write. I finished this poem and read it that night!”
I Wrote this Poem With My Thumbs (excerpt)
Thumbs are an inelegant
Instrument with which to construct
The architecture of words
Which makes a poem.
Poems are the Bonsai trees
Of language
Elegantly shaped,
Neatly groomed,
Straining to veer
From the natural unwieldiness
To which our
Emotionally freighted words
Are prone,
As my Hyundai Elantra
Strained to veer from that American Sycamore
As it slid from the road
During last Thursday’s snowstorm,
Heedless of the yellow
Lines and grassy knoll
Which marked its designated trail
Through the Palisades.
Peter Ullian’s poetry and other works include The Fevered Dream Crimes of Pulp-Fiction Poets and Other Love Stories: New and Selected Poems from Lion Autumn Music Publishing. A stage play called Pan-American is available from NoPassport Press, and a fiction novel out from Swamp Angel Press titled The Last Electric House. All can be ordered from Stanza Books (508 Main Street).
How to apply
Download the application form here
Applicants must be at least 18 years old and reside within the boundaries of the City of Beacon School District
Read submission instructions carefully
Submit by the application deadline of 5PM on Friday, January 31st, 2025, to the Beacon Poet Laureate Committee c/o Howland Public Library, 313 Main Street, Beacon, NY 12508
We look forward to sharing more about the new Beacon Poet Laureate in April. Good luck to all the applicants!
If you’re interesting in knowing more about the arts scene in Beacon, see our directories for more information on arts & culture and community organizations, and our blog for new weekly stories.
Until next time…
The Beacon Beacon 🧡