An offshoot of the Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf
initiative, the Woodrow Hall Jumpstart Awards were designed to help other Wisconsin poets implement a project or program that brings poetry
into the eye of the general public in an unconventional manner.
The award
of $500.00 goes to Jim Pollock and the Aspiring Authors of Stevens
Point for a project mounting monthly haikus on the historic Fox Theater marquee
in Stevens Point. Built in 1894 and originally named the Grand Opera House on Main Street, this theater is listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, and at present, descendants of the theater's original owners are working on restoring the building for a cultural center.
The finalist was Nancy Rafal
who received $400.00 for her proposal for the
Baileys Harbor Community Mural Project which will include Lorine Niedecker and part of her poem, "Wintergreen Ridge" on an outside wall of
Nelson's Shopping Center in Baileys Harbor in Door County. This project coincides with Niedecker's work being featured on the Poetry Trail
in Newport State Park, and the 75th anniversary of The Ridges Sanctuary, which was the inspiration for Niedecker's poem.
Katrin Talbot, Susan Elbe, Jesse Lee Kercheval and Sara Parrell have received the Woodrow Hall
Jumpstart Initiative Award of $300.00 for their Bridge Poetry Series, a partnership between statewide poets and the Chazen Museum in Madison.
Questions?
shoshaunashy@yahoo.com
