10th Annual College Poetry Competition Finalists’ Reading
Sunday, April 2, 2017 Worcester Public Library, Saxe Room
Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 WCPA College Poetry Contest
Manuscript Prize
Julie de Oliveira – winner
Carmellite Chamblin – honorable mention
Performance Prize
Rheannon Swire – winner
Morgan DeAngelis – honorable mention
The Nominees
Maria Gurriere, of Anna Maria College and Dudley, MA
Rheannon Swire, of Assumption College and Stoughton, MA
Faith Chesbrough of Fitchburg State University and Leominster, MA
Ryan Kingsley, of Holy Cross and North Attleboro, MA
Carmellite Chamblin, of MCPHS University and Malden, MA
Julie de Oliveira, of Quinsigamond Community College and Worcester, MA
Morgan DeAngelis, of WPI and Mountain View, CA
Isaac Church, of Worcester State University and Java Center, NY
Student Bios
Maria Gurriere (age 21) is an English major at Anna Maria College. Her deep passion for music, as a clarinetist, guitarist, and vocalist, inspired the poem “The Life of Music.” A lifelong condition called Sound-Color Synesthesia inspired “The Rainbow of Life,” and a lifetime of many chronic illnesses inspired “The Many Pieces of Me.” Maria is from Dudley, Massachusetts.
Rheannon Swire is a senior at Assumption College majoring in Human Services with a double minor in English and Psychology. She has been writing poetry since middle school and since she talks about poetry every chance she gets, the entire Assumption community believes that she is an English major. Rheannon lives in Stoughton, Massachusetts.
Faith Chesbrough is a Professional Writing major at Fitchburg State University. She grew up in the Leominster-Fitchburg area and still resides there. She has always had a passion for all things art including reading, writing, theatre, and speech giving.
Raised in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, Ryan Kingsley is a senior English major at the College of the Holy Cross, where he is completing an honors thesis, a collection of poems titled “Bird on the Horizon.” In his writing, Ryan explores the relationship between the human and “natural” realms as he seeks to understand the out of sight worlds they share. He loves four sisters, two turtles, a canoe, and a superfluous collection of pens.
My name is Carmellite Chamblin; I am 20 years old and an avid reader of Haruki Murakami. I reside in Malden MA and currently attend MCPHS University, studying premedical and health studies and minoring in women’s studies.
Julie de Oliveira is a first generation born Brazilian-American who grew up living in Worcester, Massachusetts. She has taken Creative Writing and Poetry courses at Quinsigamond Community College. She hopes to pursue a degree in Latino Studies. Her short stories and poetry bring light to silenced voices of Brazilian immigrants and the fairly recent phenomena of the Brazilian diaspora in America and finding their identity within the U.S. Latino community. Her poem “Saudade” appears in 2106 online issue of The Acentos Review.
My name is Morgan DeAngelis. I am a Sophomore studying Environmental Engineering at WPI. I am a San Francisco Bay Area native who loves hiking, art, and working with my residents as an RA. My friends would tell you that I have a lot of love to give for such a small person and that I can often be found hugging trees for fun.
Isaac Church is a Junior studying English at Worcester State University. He is from Java Center, NY, a little town just south of Buffalo. He enjoys reading, writing, and drawing.
Judges Bios
Jenith Charpentier is the author of three chapbooks, Bending the Water Between Us (2011), Bad at Gravity (2013), and 5 Poems by Jenith Charpentier (Damfino Press, 2015). She represented Worcester’s Poets Asylum at the 2012 Individual World Poetry Slam and as a member of the 2013 National Poetry Slam Team. Jenith’s poetry appears in several publications including OVS, Mas Tequila Review, Wicked Banshee Press, The Orange Room Review, Worcester Magazine, Tipton Poetry Journal, and the anthology Knocking at the Door. She is currently one of the organizers of Worcester’s 7 Hills Slam (http://7hillsslam.wordpress.com/). More information about her work can be found at https://www.facebook.com/jenithcharpentierpoet.
Michael Fisher is the author of The Wolf Spider (Plan B Press), Five Poems by Michael Fisher (Damfino Press) and Libretto for the Exhausted World (Spuyten Duvil Press). His poetry has appeared in numerous journals. He holds an MFA in Poetry from New England College and is an MA candidate in English at Clark University. Currently, he works as an adjunct professor and home/hospital tutor. He lives in Barre, MA.
Contest Chair Bio
Jim Cocola is an Associate Professor of Literature, Film, and Media in the Department of Humanities and Arts at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and has also served on the faculty of the Language and Thinking Program at Bard College. His essays and poems have appeared in publications including the minnesota review, n+1, Polis, VIA: Voices in Italian Americana, and The Worcester Review.