Search for 38th Bucks County Poet Laureate is On

So you think you can write?

Poetry, that is.

Bucks County Community College this week launched its search for the 38th Bucks County Poet Laureate. It is the longest-running poet laureate program in Pennsylvania, according to information from the college.

Applicants must be a Bucks County resident 18 or older who has never previously served as poet laureate. To enter, submit 10 original poems along with an entry form to the college’s Department of Language and Literature. Entries must be postmakred by Sept. 5 and received by Sept. 9 at 4 p.m.

There is no entry fee. Poetry of any style, form or length can be submitted. All work must be original, typewritten or word-processed on one side only in black ink.

The winner of the competition will receive a $500 honorarium, a proclamation from the Bucks County Commissioners and a reading at Bucks County Community College with 2013 Poet Laureate Alexa Gutter and contest runners-up.

The program is directed by professors Christopher Bursk and Charlie Groth. Bursk is the 1978 poet laureate and a longtime professor at Bucks County Community College.

Poet Kim Addonizio will be this year’s final judge. She is the author of five poetry collections, two books on writing poetry and a collection of stories. The preliminary judge is Kasey Jueds, author of “Keeper” and winner of the 2012 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press.

To download an entry form, go to http://bit.ly/buckscountylaureate.

Entries must be mailed or hand-delivered to BCCC Dept. of Language & Literature, 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, Pa., 18940.

For more information, contact Dr. Christopher Bursk at 215-968-8156.