A committee is searching for Brooklyn's next Poet Laureate to replace Ken Siegelman, who passed away in June
BOROUGH HALL – Borough President Marty Markowitz and a committee of five Brooklynites are searching for the borough’s next poet laureate.
A five member Brooklyn Poet Laureate Recommendation Committee has been established to name a poet to replace long-time Poet Laureate, the late Ken Siegelman. Mr. Siegelman, a Gravesend resident, was originally appointed as the borough’s poet on January 24, 2002, and had served as the “Bard of Brooklyn” until his death on June 19th.
One of Mr. Siegelman’s legacies has been the establishment of the Brooklyn Poetry Outreach program along with hosting of workshops encouraging the youth of the borough to write poetry, as in this 2006 video at Myspace, and the workshops held at the Phoenix House. Mr. Siegelman, who was a social studies teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School on Coney Island, authored over 200 published poems throughout his lifetime.
Community Board 15 recently recommended that the intersection of West 5th Street and Wolf Place, Gravesend, be re-named “Ken Siegelman Way.”
Markowitz described his 2002 appointment of Mr. Siegelman as the borough’s Poet Laureate as “one of his proudest acts as Borough President.”
“Like the borough he loved and wrote about, his life was never boring, and he captured all of it–the good, the bad, the ups and downs–in his poetry,” Markowitz said. Ken will be sorely missed, but his words will remain with us and inspire up-and-coming poets for generations to come.”
It would be fair to say that the next Poet Laureate is going to have some big shoes to fill.
Candidates are being asked to submit 5-to-10 pages of their original work, a two-page biography or resume, and a cover letter that describes their vision of engaging Brooklyn’s various communities in poetry. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, November 24 at 5:00 p.m.
Applications can be emailed to ekoch@brooklynbp.nyc.gov, faxed to (718) 802-3452, or snail mailed to Poet Laureate Recommendation Committee, Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
LINK: Ken Siegelman’s final poem, Stage Fright (Brooklyn Paper)
