The University of Arizona Poetry Center will partner with the Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE) to present a university-wide Solar Poetry Contest. The contest is presented in celebration of the University of Arizona’s upcoming participation in the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, an international student competition to build a house fully powered by the sun. An interdisciplinary team from the University of Arizona was one of 20 chosen to compete in the Decathlon this October in Washington, D.C. To celebrate the unveiling of the solar house, the Poetry Center invites all University of Arizona students and benefits-eligible staff to submit a sonnet about the sun to the Solar Poetry Contest.
Three $500 prizes will be given for the best Shakespearean, Petrarchan and Non-Traditional sonnet. Information about the sonnet forms, writing prompts and contest guidelines are available on the Poetry Center’s website (www.poetrycenter.arizona.edu). Deadline for submission (one poem per entry) is May, 15, 2009. Winners will be announced in August 2009 and will have the opportunity to read their work at the public viewing of the solar house on August 28.
The final judge for the contest will be UA Creative Writing Professor Alison Hawthorne Deming, author of Science and Other Poems and numerous other poetry and essay collections.
Inspiration/Impetus for the Contest
“The Poetry Center is eager to pair our expertise and passions with those of AzRISE. Inspired global change like this is always reflected in and ignited by literature and art. While the sonnet might not be nearly as timeless as the sun, it is a literary form that has inspired writers and readers from the 14th century to the present. Solar energy and poetry both seek to re-envision a way of life.” -Poetry Center Executive Director Gail Browne
“Solar energy is plentiful, renewable and freely available over the globe. The amount you use has no effect on the amount available to your neighbors. At AzRISE, we believe that solar energy is not just new technology, but a whole new way of life. The solar house is a very visible demonstration of the ways in which solar energy can transform our lives, and the poetry contest invites poets to capture the alchemical force of change that solar energy holds for our future.” -AzRISE Director Joseph Simmons
About AzRISE
AzRISE is a global institute created at the University of Arizona with academic and industrial partners to enable multi-disciplinary research, development, and practical implementation of solar energy solutions to meet our energy needs by creating innovative collaborations in research, economic and public policy analysis, and education/outreach.
About the Poetry Center
The University of Arizona Poetry Center is a living archive, founded in 1960 to maintain and cherish the spirit of poetry. An internationally renowned poetry library, the Poetry Center sponsors numerous University and community programs, including readings and lectures, classes and workshops, writing residencies, poets-in-the-schools, poets-in-the-prisons, contests, exhibitions and online resources, including standards-based poetry curricula. An area of special emphasis within the College of Humanities, the Poetry Center is open and fully accessible to the public.
For more information on the Solar Poetry Contest, please visit www.poetrycenter.arizona.edu or call (520) 626-3765.
For more information please visit www.poetrycenter.arizona.edu. |
