LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT


Dear friends, this will be a catch up letter for our activities this past year. It comes with holiday best wishes.

Attached, you will see a photograph of Tom Kirlin and Grace Cavalieri, who sponsored the award ceremony at the Writers’ Center this past November 18.

Many of the previous awardees were present and it was a very successful event. Margery Goldberg provided refreshments and we were happy to announce the 2024 William Meredith Awardee for Poetry, Kathi Wolfe. This year’s winner of the Nancy Frankel Award for Art was presented to Joan Konkel.

This year Poets’ Choice published new books by Tom Kirlin and Sid Gold.

We have received a letter congratulating us on the upcoming art exhibition at the Hygenic Gallery. The exhibition will feature the work of Stoimen Stoilov. The opening reception will take place on March 23rd and will run through April, National Poetry Month. I will hope to launch my new book at the reception.I continue to struggle to find funding for our projects, but so far, am managing. We are a 501(c)3, tax-exempt foundation and will be happy to provide a tax letter for any funding for our projects, but so far, am managing. We are a 501(c)3, tax-exempt foundation and will be happy to provide a tax letter for anyone able to make a contribution.

With Love, Richard

 
     
  Kathi Wolfe is Awarded the
2024 William Meredith Prize for Poetry
 

Article: Comings & Goings
Washington Blade contributor Kathi Wolfe wins poetry honor

 
 
  Invitation to an Afternoon of Art and Poetry
November 18 from 2-4 at the Writer’s Center
(4508 Walsh St., Bethesda, Maryland 20815)

 
   
 
   
 

Available at the Purchase price of $30 including shipping & handling.
 
 
 
  <Please press on the text to read the Press Release
Poets' Choice Publishing is Pleased to Announce
the Third Volume of Poetry by Tom Kirlin
with the Intriguing, Post-Modern Title,
"AFTER THE EYE HAS EATEN
"
>
 
 

Available at the Purchase price of $30 including shipping & handling.
 
 
  Please press the text or the photo to read the Press Release
The 2023 Frankel Award for Art is Presented to Anne Marchand
 
 
Marjorie Goldberg of Zenith Gallery, Washington, DC; the late Nancy Frankel; and Anne Marchand
 

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Steve Straight is Presented with the 2023
William Meredith Award for
Poetry

 

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Letter from the President, December 2022

Holiday greetings. Wishing you all the best for the New Year. It has been a very successful year for the foundation, and we look forward to a challenging 2023.

Some recent Initiatives include selling the house in Uncasville with a provision for lifetime usage of the guest house and library. The nice young guy who bought the place has in mind to raise fruit trees, something I'm sure William would have approved of. We will shut down the water for the winter to avoid frozen pipes and by spring the guest house should be fully operational to welcome Scott Price who is working on a biography of William Meredith as well as Charles Agvent who can review the library for books he may wish to put on his rare book website.


Our biggest achievement has been bringing the thresher memorial from the New London public library to City Hall on a permanent basis to recognize William's poem memorializing the 129 men who lost their lives in that disaster. Johnes Ruta has created a YouTube film of the following link.https://youtu.be/u_9xzVr0OxU

Tom Veys who won the Valentine Krustev Award for translation was celebrated at the New London Public Library before returning to Belgium. It is my hope that we can launch my new collection of poems, PANDEMIE in Holland during national poetry month.

Tom Kirlin and I recently visited the Bulgarian embassy to confirm the April 14th date when we hope to celebrate a number of previous winners of the William Meredith poetry award as well as the newly created Nancy Frankel Artist Award. Her death has been an inestimable loss and we still grieve for her.

We have created a medallion incorporating art by Ram Brisueño, as The foundation BLM Award for Poetry. Marilyn Nelson has agreed to accept this award for her series of sonnets on the life-and-death of Emmett Till. Herbert Martin will also receive the William Meredith Foundation BLM poetry Award for his remarkable collection of poems recounting the death of Willie Short in the collection entitled, SOMETIMES SAY MY NAME which features art by board member Grace Cavalieri.

Again, it has been a very productive year for the foundation and we are grateful for all the support we have received from the board and interested poetry lovers, particularly a generous contribution from Tom and Katherine Kirlin. Harvard University released a number of recordings of William reading his poems including the record of the SS Thresher. Tom Veys has translated this master work. The film features his translation of Meredith reading the poem over a somber, somewhat chilling background of light and water. https://youtu.be/_26UliyGC5Q

This work Is a good example of how the foundation continues William’s legacy in the world of poetry. The "great sloth heart" beats iambic, and William's poem comes to you as a gift as we begin a New Year of light and love. Richard

 

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  Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

For Tyre Nichols

"Mom, mom," he cried,
50 yards from home.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

"I'm just trying to get home."
He said, as the pepper spray
Ruined his eyes.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
His Delta earring enraging
the Minotaur. Nam Myoho
Renge Kyo

The river of blood in his brain
Became a delta. Nam Myoho
Renge Kyo. He was thin,
Until his body blossomed
While the beast kicked him.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
His heart stopped beating,
And finally, he was home.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo


by Richard Harteis
 

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  Tom Veys Arrives from Belgium to Accept the 2022 Valentin Krustev Translation Award
at a Special Poetry Event at the New London Public Library, July 9 at 1:00
please click here to view the Press Release


 
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  Commemoration of the April 10, 1963 sinking of the Nuclear US Navy
Submarine USS Thresher SSN 593, with the loss of all aboard.
This commemoration took place on April 29, 2022, at the City Hall of New London, CT,
home of the US Navy Submarine Base.
 
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The Nuclear US Navy Submarine USS Thresher SSN 593 sank and was lost on April 10, 1963, during tests in the deep ocean off the Continental Shelf, 100 miles east of Boston, with the loss of 129 crew and civilians. The submarine was based at the US Navy Submarine Base at Gales Ferry, Connecticut on the Thames River east of New London, CT, where many crew members lived in the area.

Some wreckage of the imploded boat was found in September 1964 at a depth of 8,400 feet below the surface.

This Commemoration took place at City Hall of New London, 5:00 pm Friday April 29, 2022, introduced by MAYOR MICHAEL PASSERO, and RICHARD HARTEIS, President of the William Meredith Foundation. The poem "THE WRECK OF THE THRESHER" was written by the US Poet Laureate (1978-1980) by WILLIAM MEREDITH (1919-2007), who was a personal friend of the Thresher CAPTAIN JOHN W. HARVEY. The poem was read by MARGARET GIBSON, Poet Laureate of Connecticut. The original poem "Let Us Pray" was written and read by REV. CYNTHIA WILLAUER. Family members of the Thresher crew and officers of the US Navy were present.

Camera: Johnes Ruta VP of the William Meredith Foundation, azothjohnes.

 
   
  The William Meredith Foundation is Pleased to Offer Two Events
Celebrating National Poetry Month, April 2022

(please press the underlined text to view the Press Release link)
 
   
 
William Meredith Foundation Establishes the First Annual Nancy Frankel Artist Award
Press Release: Saturday, February 5, 2022
 
   
   
   
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
GIVE AND TAKE


(Christmas after a death in the family)


by William Meredith


…..Boxes gape open compartments of time

Is it nicely snowing outside this snug room

or do we stand suddenly in an autumn field

Who is the one in the box Will God unwrap her

gladly and tell her the rest

after we have tied her up grassily

and told her goodnight Lie still now

we’ve told her. God will be glad

at what we’ve thought to bring him

He who has everything


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Click on the image below to view the 2007 CT Governor's Lifetime Achievement Award for William Meredith.
Click on the image below for a video tour of the William Meredith Foundation.
The William Meredith Foundation and Center for the Arts
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
Purchase price $40 includes shipping & handling.
 
 
 
 
 
 
International Purchase by Credit Card
Please use this button:
 
 
<
>
 
 
 
 
Please click on the following link for this Announcement:
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
   
 
 
 
Grace Cavalieri interview
with Robert Earl Price
The Poet and the Poem:
(Grace Cavalieri is Poet Laureate of Maryland
and a Board member of the William Meredith Foundation)

 
 

For over four decades, Robert Earl Price has amassed writing credits in fiction, drama and poetry. His many awards include The TCG/NEA Playwright's Residency, The American Film Institute's William Wyler award for screenwriting, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship for Poetry and a Cultural Olympics commission for theater, 2006 Gen-Gabriel Moore Playwriting award and 2012 recipient of a Maryland Individual Artist Award (playwriting.) Price was artist in residence in the Drama Department of Washington College from 2008-2018. He is coordinator for the annual Kent County Poetry Festival.

 
   
 
 
 
Please click on the following link for this Announcement:
 
   
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Richard Harteis reads two poems for New Year 2021
 
 
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Book Announcement
 
   
 
 
   
     
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pulitzer Prize Winner William Meredith served as U.S. Consultant In Poetry to The Library Of Congress, 1978-1980, a term now known as U.S. Poet Laureate.

“The Library of Congress has commissioned Grace Cavalieri, Maryland Poet Laureate and Meredith Foundation board member to create programs celebrating American poets in the 20th century.

Episode 7 features the life and work of William Meredith and can be seen at the following link:

Congratulations Grace, and thank you!”

Video Commentary by Grace Cavalieri 4 minutes

(please click on this link to view Grace Cavalieri Presents) :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XAbitTmTOTpvWzjSO0VJOo2bHRSa3OL4/view?usp=drivesdk

 
 
 
 
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February 22, 2020 at the WRITER'S CENTER in Bethesda, MD.
 
 
 
 
Reading by Lee Woodman.
Lee is the 2020 William Meredith Awardee in poetry for MINDSCAPES.
(Photo credit: DC photographer Sonya Melescu)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Foundation Director Richard Harteis, reading from his new collection, MYSTICAL REHAB
(Photo credit: DC photographer Sonya Melescu)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Left to right: Barbara Goldberg (the 2019 Valentin Krustev awardee for translation), Lee Woodman,
Richard Harteis, and Tom Kirlin (The 2019 William Meredith awardee in Poetry)
introduced the speakers and read from their own works.
(Photo credit: DC photographer Sonya Melescu)
 
  Letter from the President

Holiday greetings to everyone. It is bound to be a dramatic New Year. We send you every good wish.

2019 sees the end of the “Year of William Meredith,” though with luck, his memory and impact on our culture will never fade. Highlights of our activities in 2019 include:

A memorial calendar, a catalog for the exhibition we arranged at the American University Art Museum for Nancy Frankel (NANCY @ NINETY,) production of the 2019 William Meredith Award for Poetry (ENABLING LOVE, by Tom Kirlin) the 2019 Valentin Krustev Award for Translation (TRANSFORMATION, by Barbara Goldberg,) a collection of essays and photos prepared for the Connecticut College Symposium on the life and work of William Meredith (FESTSCHRIFT FOR WILLIAM) publication of a new book of stories by Lisa Ritchie, THE SCOTCH RUNNER, and a new collection of poems by Andrew Oerke, BAYFIELD BOYHOOD. Readings and celebrations took place at the Bulgarian Embassy and other venues in the DC area. And I was able to wave the flag for poetry and William at the Poetry Festival in Povdiv, Bulgaria along with Barbara Goldberg. All of the books mentioned above are available on Poets-Choice.com, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. YouTube clips and photos on all these activities can be found in the RECENT AND PAST EVENTS section of this website.

And Poets Choice has just published a new book too! I spent a month in rehab after a big surgery in August wherein the title, MYSTICAL REHAB, New and Other Occasions. It includes 20 years of poems never before brought to bed in a formal way, and I am very glad to announce its arrival. The directors of the festival in Las Vegas where my screen play won have said the film will be produced, so with luck, 2020 will feature COMES LOVE on the silver screen.

I continue to thank God and all of William’s friends that I have been able to carry on his legacy and produce new work. The 2020 William Meredith Award for Poetry is in the wings and will be announced on his birthday, January 9th. Till then, this missive comes with love and gratitude. Richard

 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Please Click on the following link to bring you to the full Press Release for MINDSCAPES.
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
Please Click on the following link to bring you to the full Press Release for MYSTICAL REHAB.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
From 1964 to 1987 William Morris Meredith served as Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.
He served as a fighter pilot in both the Pacific campaign in World War II and in Korea. From, 1946 to 1950, he was
Instructor in English at Princeton University, as the Woodrow Wilson Fellow in Writing, and Resident Fellow in
Creative Writing, then associate professor at the University of Hawaii (1950–51). After the Korean War he was
associate then Full Professor of English at Connecticut College, where he taught until 1983.

From 1978 to 1980, he was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress of the United States,
the position which in 1985 became the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress.

Contact:

Foundation Director:
Richard Harteis
Tel. (860) 961-5138
Suite 126, 300 Brandegee Av. Groton, CT 06340
marathonfilm@gmail.com
www.WilliamMeredithFoundation.org and www.Poets-Choice.com

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ABOUT THE WILLIAM MEREDITH FOUNDATION
A visit to the Two Trees Garden where William's ashes lie.

The William Meredith Foundation is proud to announce the establishment of the William Meredith Center for the Arts to remember and honor a great American spirit. Friends who have come together as a foundation wish never to forget this extraordinary human being and the impact he has had on so many lives. Poet, pilot, arborist, beloved teacher and friend, his legacy is a treasure we wish to pass on to future generations. The Meredith Center will keep the flame of generosity and artistic camaraderie burning at Riverrun, William's home on the Thames River in Connecticut where he lived and worked for 60 years and which has recently been added to the State Registry of Historic Landmarks.

The center sponsors educational programs during the year to provide cultural enrichment through a diverse selection of artistic programming. It fosters an appreciation for the work of local and regional artists and develops artist exchange programs internationally as well, particularly with the Republic of Bulgaria where Mr. Meredith was made a citizen by presidential decree for his work in the culture. Artists invited for residencies at the Meredith Center share their talents through art exhibitions, readings, publications and academic seminars. The center serves as a retreat where artists can create new works in the same spirit of peace, equality, and serious endeavor that characterized William's life and work at Riverrun.

First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a letter joining Connecticut College in a celebration of William's 80th birthday in which she says, "The arts have always been a unifying force in our world, bringing people together across vast cultural, social, economic and geographical divisions. Through his work, William Meredith both enhances and strengthens the American spirit. As you honor Mr. Meredith, you celebrate the timeless power of poetry and poets as our American memory, our purveyors of insight and culture, our eyes and ears who silence the white noise around us, and express the very heart of what connects us, plagues us, and makes us fully human."

The William Meredith Center for the Arts offers another window on the world through which we can enhance our spirit, a window through which artists may search their private worlds and speak for us as we make our slow progress as members of the human tribe. A short signature poem by William Meredith inspires us in our efforts to honor his memory as a model of courage, good will, civility and achievement:

A Major Work

Poems are hard to read
Pictures are hard to see
Music is hard to hear
And people are hard to love

But whether from brute need
Or divine energy
At last mind eye and ear
And the great sloth heart will move.

Printable brochure for the William Meredith Foundation (pdf)