During times of celebration, of uncertainty, of transition, and of loss, people turn to poetry.  It is as vital as ever.

Grayson Books publishes poetry anthologies, collections, and chapbooks by some of America’s most talented poets.

Congratulations to Robert Aquinas McNally, whose manuscript, Songs of the Two Names, has won this year’s Grayson Books Poetry Chapbook Competition.

Our contest judge, Patricia Fargnoli, commented,
“The sheer elegance, impeccable craft, and the authority of these 14 line poems and the cohesiveness of the chapbook, entirely won me over.  This is a book of praise songs for a natural world filled with wonder…poems so relevant for these times when that world is at such risk.”

In addition, Fargnoli chose two writers to be recognized with honorable mentions:

David Jauss for - If You Have to Ask: Jazz Poems

Linda Tomol Pennisi for - Miniscule Boxes in the Bird's Bright Throat

The winning poet,

Robert Aquinas McNally, is the author or coauthor of nine books of nonfiction as well as three poetry chapbooks before Songs of the Two Names.

If you would like to preorder the winning chapbook,send your name, address, and a check made out to

Grayson Books
PO Box 270549
West Hartford, CT 06127. 

The price is $10.00 per copy. You may omit shipping and handling fees if you order by May 31; after that please include $2.00 shipping & handling charges per order.

This year’s judge is Patricia Fargnoli. A former  New Hampshire Poet Laureate, she is the author of four books and two chapbooks of poetry. Her newest book which is Then, Something  (Tupelo Press, 2009), won the ForeWord Poetry Book of the Year Award Silver Award, the Shelia Motton Book Award of the New England Poetry Club, and an Honorable Mention in the Eric Hoffer Awards.

Grayson Books
PO Box 270549
West Hartford, CT  06127

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