HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Writers from across Alabama were invited to Shirley Burden Public Library in Hanceville on Friday, May 29, to participate in library’s annual Poetry Night and poetry competition to celebrate creativity and literacy.
Library Manager Teresa Rivera explained that the competition started as a way to get residents involved during National Poetry Month in April, and it has quickly become a meaningful tradition. She thanked library supporter Ben Johnson and published poet and event judge Will Justice Drake for helping shape the contest.
Drake helped organize the event and judge the entries. The contest received over 40 entries, with each participant allowed to submit up to three poems. Although only Alabama residents could enter, Rivera said the event reached beyond the state.
“I even had people from North Carolina and South Carolina send their poems,” Rivera said. “Of course, it was just an Alabama state poetry contest, so we couldn’t accept those. But it was interesting that it had traveled that far.”
For Rivera, one of the most memorable aspects of the competition was the wide variety of voices and styles represented.
“What stood out for me was the diversity,” she said. “We had very short entries and then we had very long entries. People use poetry to express their feelings. Some poems spoke from pain, some from joy and some were funny. It was just fascinating.”
The winning poem was about pomegranates. Rivera said the piece captivated readers through its vivid imagery and rich descriptions. “You could feel the juiciness of the fruit, the honeyed pleasure. It was just very well done.”
Drake said judging was conducted anonymously and focused on both technical skill and the poem’s ability to reveal deeper truths.
“I’m looking for both the quality of the content and the quality of the form. How well put together is it, the craft? And then, is it looking for some sort of truth in the world? Is it pulling that out and presenting it to the reader?” he said.
Drake said the winning poem stood out because of its strong language and imagery. The piece was an ekphrastic poem, a type of poetry written in response to a work of art.
“The diversity of the language, the control of the language and how striking the images are really pull that subject out of the mundane,” Drake said. “It feels almost like a call to search for something.”
Rivera said the competition was intentionally open-ended and free, with few restrictions beyond requiring participants to provide contact information, reside in Alabama and submit their work before the deadline. The library promoted the contest through universities, newspapers, local radio stations and social media.
Poetry Night is held on the last Friday of each month at 6 p.m. and will continue through October before pausing for the winter months. Rivera said the event aligns closely with the library’s mission of promoting literacy and lifelong learning.
“One of the objectives of our poetry contest was to encourage literacy and reward creativity. Even though we’re a small-town library, we still encourage education because increased education really helps with bettering the quality of life.”
The poetry contest will return next April as an annual event.
The winning poem
“Dreaming of Pomegranates, 1913”
By Audrey Faircloth (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)
Sprawled across this throne of flowers,
indigo and fuchsia budding beneath my hips,
I am bloated with visions
of the lustful fruit.
Lured by the promise
of its blood-laced juice,
I slip deeper into the earth,
snoring as I run.
The prints of my fingers
trace the fruit’s burly rind.
Beneath I feel every seed,
each an embryo of chance.
My palms penetrate the skin,
blood running down my arms
as I consume the fruit whole,
the syrupy aroma of poppies
filling my satiated head.
Bursting with honeyed pleasure,
I ascend back to the surface.
I awake to a famished belly,
no longer convex with possibility.
I press my watering eyes shut
and roll over to weep,
ignorant of the plump fruit
looming overhead.
