poetry

Press Release:

On March 15, for the third consecutive year, a Byron-Bergen student advanced to the state Poetry Out Loud (POL) competition. Under the leadership of Secondary English Teacher and POL coordinator Andrew McNeil, Byron-Bergen has established itself as a serious regional competitor. After placing first in the school, senior Jade Wolff advanced to Regionals in Buffalo and then States in Albany.

The competition, now in its 20th season, was initiated at Byron-Bergen by English Teacher John Tomidy in 2006, the program’s inaugural year. Since then, thousands of Byron-Bergen High School students have participated in the classroom-level recitation process, hundreds have entered the school-level contest, and dozens have competed in the regional competition. 

Now retired, Tomidy stays connected to POL by serving as a judge for the school-level competition. In further recognition of the hard work and dedication of the POL participants, Tomidy founded monetary prizes for two competitors which were awarded on April 3.

The first award goes to the participant with the most outstanding performance at the school-level competition of 10 or more participants, as determined by the panel of judges. Additionally, the recitation must be exceptional as a stand-alone performance, not just within the context of the competition. 

The second award goes to the student who, according to teacher observation, experiences the most enlightened growth resulting from the memorization/recitation process. The student will show an increased appreciation not only for the poetic form but also for the skills enhanced by memorization and recitation. 

This year’s award recipients are Jade Wolff and Gianna Graff, respectively. 

Tomidy stated, “Judging this year brought back fond memories. Poetry Out Loud was always near and dear to me, so it’s good to feel reconnected to it. My aim is to continue judging and providing the awards for the foreseeable future.” 

Poetry Out Loud is a partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and state and jurisdictional arts agencies. The goal of the program is to engage high school students in “a dynamic poetry recitation competition that is designed to improve their public speaking skills, help build confidence and teach them about literary history and contemporary life” (poetryoutloud.org).

Submitted photos.

Press release:

On Feb. 15th, Senior Libby Piper and Sophomore Jade Wolff participated in the 2023 Poetry Out Loud Semifinal Competition held at Buffalo State University. The event was co-hosted by the Western New York Writing Project. Piper and Wolff had previously advanced to this round after winning the Byron-Bergen School-Level competition. During the event, they competed against students from around the Western New York area including schools such as Brighton High School, the Westfield Academy, and Jamestown High School.

During the first two rounds of the competition, the students were required to recite two poems: one poem needed to be 25 lines or fewer and the other must have been written before the 20th Century. Piper recited William E. Stafford's Traveling Through the Dark and Ella Wheeler Wilcox's Friendship After Love while Wolff recited Carl Sandburg's I am the People, the Mob and Edgar Allen Poe's To Helen. The students were evaluated on categories such as physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, and accuracy.

After the first two rounds, three students were selected to advance to the third round and recite a final poetry selection. Piper was selected and recited Jeffrey Skinner’s The Bookshelf of the God of Infinite Space. After the final scores were tabulated, Piper was named the Western New York champion.

With this award, Piper has earned the right to move on as one of only 20 students from the state of New York and compete in the Poetry Out Loud New York State Finals held at the Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, NY on March 11, 2023. The winner of this competition will advance to the 2023 Poetry Out Loud National Finals to be held May 8-10th in Washington, DC. 

Gregory Hallock, executive director of GO ART!, reads poems by Annette Daniels Taylor for National Poetry Month.

Batavia resident Dan Crofts reading "The Dark Night" by John of the Cross for National Poetry Month.

Eric Zwieg, a writer and musician from Batavia, reads "Sometimes We Wake Transformed" by Jason Irwin for National Poetry Month.

Elba resident Bill Kauffman reads 'To a Siberian Woodsman' by Wendell Berry for National Poetry Month.

S. Shade Zajac, conductor and musical director for the Genesee Symphony Orchestra, reading "Power" by Jim Morrison for National Poetry Month.

Nici Johnson, radio personality with WBTA, reads "Flamingo Watching" by Kay Ryan.

For National Poetry Month, David Reilly reads "Nostalgia" by Billy Collins.

Byron Hoot is not a Batavia resident but over the years he's become a significant part of our local literary climate, attending local literary events and the annual John Gardner Society reading of the famous author's work at the Pok-A-Dot each October.

He's reading one of his own poems, "The Discomfort of Healing."

April is National Poetry Month.

For National Poetry Month, we asked several local school superintendents to read a poem for us. The first submission comes from Matthew Calderon, superintendent of Pembroke Central schools. He's reading "Sick" by Shel Silverstein.

"Dirty Face" by Shel Silverstein read by Avelynn William for National Poetry Month.

Poetry Month: "The Shortest Day" by Sarah Cooper read by Wendy Williams.

April is National Poetry Month, and as we did last year, we've asked Batavia Players to read some poems for us. Today, "Pangur Ban" is read by Dorothy Gerhart.

You, members of our community, are also invited to submit videos of yourself reading a poem. Please record your video with your camera set to produce a horizontal frame, keep it steady, well-lit with good quality audio. You can send us your video via wetransfer.com, emailed to: howard@thebatavian.com.

April is National Poetry Month, and as we did last year, we've asked Batavia Players to read some poems for us. We start with 'In the Woods' by Oscar Wilde read by Stephen VanValkenburg. 

You, members of our community, are also invited to submit videos of yourself reading a poem. Please record your video with your camera set to produce a horizontal frame, keep it steady, well-lit with good quality audio. You can send us your video via wetransfer.com, emailed to: howard@thebatavian.com.

Howard Owens reads "Third Avenue in Sunlight" by Anthony Hecht.

Hecht was a Literature professor at the University of Rochester. Below is a short video of Hect talking about poetry.

This concludes our poetry month readings. I hope you enjoyed them.

Mike Hodgins reads "House by the Side of the Road" by Sam Walter Floss. Mike said this poem was one of the favorites of his father, John Hodgins, the late local artist and county legislator.

Avey Williams reads Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess. Avey is associated with Batavia Players.