Long Branch Arts Council, ArtsHelps Partner with Playwrights Theatre for Hurricane Sandy Poem Anthology

The Long Branch Arts Council and Arts Helps is partnering with Playwrights Theatre to accept submissions for an Anthology of Poems relating to the events and experiences of those affected by Hurricane Sandy. The Long Branch Arts Council is accepting these submissions for an anthology of poetry to be published in 2014-2015. The anthology "Poetic Voices In Response To Hurricane Sandy" will feature poems relating to the events and experiences of those affected by Hurricane Sandy. The finished anthology will be published and distributed to libraries. Writers of work selected will also perform their poems in various locations in Long Branch in the Spring of 2014.

Poems must be submitted electronically at the following website http://www.ptnj.org/miscpage/poetic-voices-in-response-to-hurricane-sandy. The webpage can also be found by going to www.ptnj.org and clicking on the "Submissions and Applications" menu on the home page. Entrants will be asked to fill out a brief on-line application prior to uploading their poems.

Classroom teachers, schools, and community-based organizations can submit multiple poems written in the classroom or workshop (limit, three poems per individual author) via regular mail directly to: Poetic Voices 2014, Long Branch Arts Council, 179 Broadway, Long Branch, NJ 07740. Attn: Group Poetry Submission. Group poetry submissions should not upload poems to the website, but should go to the website to fill out a special section on the entry form.

The contest is open to writers of all ages. Poems accepted will be divided into non-student and student (grades K-12) categories. The contestencourages classroom teachers, schools, and community-based organizations to submit poems written in the classroom or in workshop.

"The people who experienced Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath have been through a lot," said Gabor Barabas, President of the Long Branch Arts Council and Executive Producer of The New Jersey Repertory Company. "Poetry, with its ability to be at once intensely personal and universal, seems to be the perfect literary form to capture the myriad of conflicting emotions that emanate from these unimaginable tragedies. We want to create a forum for poetic impulses, as a means of healing, as well as a means of keeping an emotional and spiritual record of what happened here a little over a year ago. So, we want to hear from anyone who may have a poem in them."

Writers may submit up to three poems, which will be read by a panel of professional writers. The poems should focus in some way on the events of Hurricane Sandy. Submission deadline is February 1, 2014. Winners will be notified on our around March 1, 2014. Each accepted poet will receive a free copy of the anthology, and accepted poems will be performed for the public by their authors in various locations in Long Branch during the Spring of 2014.

ArtsHelps is funded by the New Jersey Recovery Fund, hosted by the Community Foundation of New Jersey and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, is a joint effort between local and national foundations, New Jersey corporations, and individuals to support local nonprofit organizations working in communities affected by Hurricane Sandy. The fund provides flexible financial support to organizations focused on ensuring that recovery and rebuilding decisions address the long-term needs of the state and the local communities.

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