Hall-Kenyon Prize/Walsh Awarded/Restoration of Dickinson’s Home – Poetry News Roundup November 16th

Our final poetry news round up of the week looks at the winner of this years Hall-Kenyon Prize, an award given to Tony Walsh and finally, the restoration project on the home of Emily Dickinson.

Hall-Kenyon Prize in American Poetry Announces 2018 Winner

Tracy K. Smith, the current United States Poet Laureate, has been announced as the winner of this years Hall-Kenyon Prize in American Poetry.

The award is named in honour of the late Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon. The poets were married and lived in Wilmot in Hall’s ancestral home. Hall, who was a former US Poet Laureate, received a National Medal of the Arts in 2010. Kenyon served as a former poet laureate in New Hampshire. Hall passed away last June.

Smith will receive her award on December 12th at an awards ceremony that will include poetry readings and a remembrance for Donald Hall.

Award Given to Tony Walsh

Tony Walsh, the Manchester poet, who performs under the name Longfella, has been named one of the winners at the inaugural Manchester Culture Awards.

In 2017, Walsh captured the spirit of Manchester and the attention of the world with his rousing performance of his poem “This is The Place”. The reading formed part of the vigil for the 22 people who lost their lives in the bombing that took place after and Ariana Grande concert.

Receiving his award, Walsh led a round of applause for the victims of the bombing and those individuals who had tirelessly helped survivors on the night and in the days that followed.

Walsh said that he was truly amazed by the response he had received to his poem during the last 18 months “I couldn’t have expected it,” he said. The poem has been projected onto buildings, people are even having it reproduced in tattoo form – it is everywhere and something that any artist, whatever form their art takes, can only dream of.

The awards, which were handed out at the Etihad Stadium were set up by Manchester City Council.

Emily Dickinson Museum to Expand Restoration Work

A new project that it is hoped will restore the home of Emily Dickinson, which is now a museum, to how it would have been during the 19th century, is to continue.

The museum, at The Homestead, the house where the poet was born in 1830 and where she wrote most of her poetry, is owned by Amherst College. The college has announced that the work will continue thanks to a $300,000 matching grant that they have received from the National Endowment for the Humanities fund.

The restoration plans include clearing more space to create a bigger museum, where offices will be moved out, and seeking documentary evidence of features such as pieces of wallpaper.

The plans are vital for the museum, which currently receives an average of 15,000 visitors each year. Moving the administrative offices out and opening up more of the property has become the only viable option open to the college. It is expected that more fundraising will need to take place in order to complete all the work that is required.



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