UCO Artist-in-Residence Places First in National Poetry Competition
Oct. 30, 2024
Zachary Scalzo, MFA, artist-in-residence for the University of Central Oklahoma Department of English, received first place and a $3,000 prize in Frontier Poetry’s Nature and Place poetry competition for their poem "Sometimes—there's God—so quickly."
Scalzo’s poem draws deeply from their personal experience living and working across the country, especially in Oklahoma, with influences from the local environment and literature over the past two years. Much of the inspiration for this piece came from walks across the UCO campus and throughout the Edmond and Oklahoma City communities.
"To have my work recognized by a platform that allows it to be in conversation with a community like this is both heartening and humbling. They're a ‘platform between poet and world.’ To be recognized as a part of that world feels exceptional," Scalzo said.
As an artist-in-residence for UCO’s Department of English, Scalzo shares the importance of community with students in the classroom.
“I always tell my students that I'm in the workshop with them. They draft, revise and submit writing to journals and contests, and I do it, too. We're all part of the same writing community. My work, like theirs, grows in great part thanks to being a part of this community of faculty and student writers and thinkers,” Scalzo said.
Guest judged by Flower Conroy, American writer and 2021 National Endowment for the Arts fellow, the Nature and Place competition received diverse submissions exploring themes of environment, landscape and identity. Scalzo’s poem stood out for its intricate weaving of place and personal reflection.
For more information about Scalzo’s award-winning poem or to read it in full, visit www.frontierpoetry.com/2024/10/09/nature-and-place-winner/.
For more information on the UCO Department of English, visit www.uco.edu/cla/academics/english/.
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Brendan Maxwell