By: Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director
The annual Northeast Texas Poetry Reading on Friday, 4 September at 11 AM will again occur at the Foyer of the Whatley Center for the Performing Arts on the Northeast Texas Community College campus. The public is invited for this free event, the nineteenth of its kind in as many years.
As before, the Reading will feature the six readings of the highest ranked poems of the adult and student divisions, and a presentation of winning Northeast Texas images. This year, the event will also include the bestowal of the Stevenson Awards for best actors in the summer film effort of Honors Northeast. Two speakers also will share their perceptions of our region, the Honorable Jerry Boatner, former Mount Pleasant Mayor, and Chuck Hamilton, an online professor at Texas A&M University-Central Texas.
NTCC Honors Director, Dr. Andrew P. Yox notes that “the exploration of our regional world helps to satisfy one of the most basic questions we are asked in our careers—where are we from? What does that mean? Is there an essential amicability in our church-and-school towns, a kind of tranquility in the green pastures and quiet waters of our countryside? Do we have an endowment that is worth preserving in some way?” Yox notes that we are also very thankful this year for the support shown by patrons of Honors Northeast through the Whatley Employee Enhancement fund grants, who have made the Texas-sized student awards possible.
The deadline for the poetry and image-submissions is noon, Friday, 28 August. Over $1,500 in Prizes will be awarded, including $400 for the best student poem. Send questions, poems and images to the NTCC Honors Director, Dr. Andrew P. Yox at ayox@ntcc.edu. Poems should address something of the character, culture or history of Northeast Texas. Images should try to capture something definitive or interesting about our northeast region of Texas.
