Shelter Island Woman Wins Poetry Contest

A Shelter Island woman has been named the winner of the 4th Annual Bliss Morehead Poetry Grant competition.

Bethany Moore’s poem “In Praise of the End” was the winning entry in the contest, earning her $1,000 during a poetry reading scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26 at the Shelter Island American Legion Hall.

Honorable mentions were awarded to “No Matter How Much We Love” by Michael Hofstadter of Riverhead, “Long Distance Love Poem” by Jana Nishida of East Hampton, and “Snowflake” by Edward Brennan of Shelter Island. This year’s competition was judged by Irene Cornell, Charity Robey, and Virginia Walker.

The contest is named for Bliss Morehead, who was a resident of Shelter Island who wrote about “the frustrating and occasionally illuminating work we all take upon ourselves when we are snatched up by the demanding nanny/muse and forced to admit that yes, we are poets. Or are attempting to be poets.”

Morehead was the founder of the Shelter Island Poetry Project, which produced annual April Poetry Month readings at the Shelter Island Library revolving around yearly themes. The theme for this year’s reading is “Beginnings and Endings.”