Sullivan County Poet Laureate Inaugural Event

Sharon Kennedy-Nolle will be recognized as the county’s fourth Poet Laureate at a ceremony on Saturday, April 30th. The public is welcome to attend the inaugural ceremony which will take place on the outdoor stage at 2:30 p.m. In case of rain, the ceremony will be moved indoors.

Outgoing Poet Laureate Eric Baylin will pass the torch to Sharon Kennedy-Nolle, who will read a poem centered in Sullivan County.  A Livingston Manor resident for over 40 years (now part-time), Sharon has a Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry from the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop, a Masters of Arts from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, and a Masters of Arts in Poetics from NYU. Her poetry and prose have been selected for recognition by multiple publishers, including recently as a winner of the New Ohio Review’s 2021 poetry contest. Sharon has devoted her life to education, teaching literature and poetry workshops to students of all ages and abilities in the US, India and Japan; however, she describes the Catskills as home and says they have always informed her work.

The Poet Laureate position is made possible in large part with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council of the Arts, with the support of the NYS Governor’s Office and the NYS Legislature and administered by the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance. The Project is administered by the Sullivan Public Library Alliance, with additional support from libraries, the Friends of local public libraries, and individual supporters of the arts.