New Jersey Poet Michael T. Young Receives Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award

Michael T. Young of Jersey City, New Jersey, and Kyle Potvin of Derry, New Hamshire, were announced as co-winners of the New England Poetry Club's 2014 Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award, judged by poet David Ellis.

"Living in Counterpoint" (L), Author Michael T. Young (R)

New England Poetry Club
(f. 1915)

PRLog - Oct. 8, 2014 - JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Michael T. Young of Jersey City, New Jersey, has been named co-winner of the 2014 Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award for his third poetry collection, “Living in the Counterpoint.” He shares the award with Kyle Potvin of Derry, New Hamshire, who received it for her debut poetry collection, “Sound Travels on Water.” This year’s judge was poet David Ellis. Both collections were published by Finishing Line Press of Georgetown, Kentucky.

The Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award is given for the best chapbook published in the previous two years. A chapbook is small poetry collection usually under forty pages in length and typically published as a pamphlet. Started in 2008, the Pedrick Award is administered by the New England Poetry Club. Founded in 1915 by poets Amy Lowell, Robert Frost and Conrad Aiken, the New England Poetry Club is the oldest poetry reading series in America.

Michael T. Young has published two other collections, an earlier chapbook, “Because the Wind Has Questions” (Somers Rocks Press, 1997), and a full-length collection of poems, “Transcriptions of Daylight” (Rattapallax Press, 2000). Advance copies of his latest book, “The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost,” are available from New Jersey's Hoboken-based publisher Poets Wear Prada. Young has received a fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and the Chaffin Poetry Award. He was also a recipient of a William Stafford Award.

Jean Pedrick (1922 - 2006)

“Living in the Counterpoint” was published by Finishing Line Press in 2012. “The book explores how we identify who we are, best, in the context of what we are not. The central theme of the collection is the necessity of taking risk in self-exploration. It’s similar to the odd way that candies are made better-tasting by adding a little spice to them," said author Michael T. Young. "Living in the Counterpoint" is a prelude to Young’s latest full-length collection, “The Beautiful Moment of Being Lost,” which continues his poetic exploration of self-identity and risk.

Both co-winners will each receive $100 and are invited to read at the New England Poetry Club.

PWP's Contribution to CUNY Chapfest Super Chap Anthology

Please join Poets Wear Prada, our Chief Executive Editor, Roxanne Hoffman, and our Creative Director & Production Editor, Jack Cooper, at the fifth annual CUNY Chapfest Bookfair this Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4, held at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street, NYC. The festival is taking place in the Proshansky Auditorium and on the C-Level.

The CUNY Chapfest celebrates the chapbook as a work of art and as a medium for alternative and emerging writers and publishers.

Poets Wear Prada will be among the sixty chapbook publishers showcased at this event. We will be presenting chapbooks by Mary Orovan, Erik La Prade, Austin Alexis, Joel Allegretti, Richard Marx Weinraub, Laura Vookles, Tantra Zawadi, Michael Montlack, Ice Gayle Johnson, Gil Fagiani, Maria Lisella, and more. A limited number of signed first editions will available for some of our titles.

To celebrate the festival's fifth year, Lost & Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative has created a superchap — a mini-anthology. Each participating publisher was invited to fill one page of the chapbook however they wanted. The resulting book was assembled and designed by Megan Mangum, our Lost & Found designer, with the cover designed by book artist Jeff Peterson of Double Cross Press. The printing was done by Peter Viegas and the Graduate Center Graphic Arts shop.

Friday book fair hours are from 12:00pm to 6:30pm; Saturday hours from 12:00pm to 5:00pm.

The festival is free and open to the public, though workshops require advance registration and some may require a small materials fee.

For the complete schedule and list of participating publishers please visit: http://chapbookfestival.org/

Facebook Event Link: https://www.facebook.com/events/541464705905065/

The CUNY Chapfest is co-sponsored by the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs, Academy of American Poets, the Center for Book Arts, the CUNY MFA Affiliation Group, Poetry Society of America, Poets House, and Poets & Writers.