Six local teachers and writers served as judges for The Salem News poetry contest, poring over roughly 100 poems and offering thoughtful selections with insightful comments.
Our thanks to all of them, who volunteered their time and expertise.
Here are the judges who contributed to the contest, along with Salem News editors who voted on the winning selection.
Carl Carlsen teaches English at North Shore Community College and has created a website showcasing "The Poetry of Places in Essex County," www.poetryofplaces.org.
Patricia Hanlon is director of publications at Gordon College and edits "STILLPOINT," the Gordon magazine, and other publications. She has published essays and short stories, and is currently at work on a nonfiction book, "Swimming to the Top of the Tide: Notes Toward a Philosophy of Place."
Colleen Michaels is director of the Writing Center at Montserrat College of Art. Her poems and essays have appeared in a variety of publications. In 2008, she was commissioned by the Trustees of Reservations to create a public art installation of her poem "Align" at Crane Beach in Ipswich. She is the founder of the Improbable Places Poetry Tour and is one of the organizers for the 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival in Salem this weekend.
Vanessa Ramos teaches composition and creative writing as an assistant professor in the Department of English at Salem State University.
John J. Ronan is a poet, playwright and professor emeritus at North Shore Community College. He is a former NEA and Ucross Fellow and Poet Laureate of Gloucester, and his poetry has appeared in a long list of publications. His most recent book of poetry is "Marrowbone Lane" (2009). His comedy "The Yeats Game" premiered in 2008 at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre and will run in New York in the spring of 2012.
Dan Sklar teaches writing at Endicott College. He is the author of three books of poetry, "Straightforward," "Hack Writer" and "Bicycles, Canoes, Drums," and his work has been published in a variety of publications.
