Virginia Poetry.com
A New Site for Virginia Poets
Please support this site by donating and /or purchasing some of the merchandise from the links below. This site is presented by Steven Robert Heine. Heine is a disabled poet in his 70's. He was crippled in a fall several years ago and suffered a stroke in 2023. Your support will help cover costs of this site and provide more frequent updates.
Virginia Poetry and Writing Groups.
The current Virginia State Poet Laureate is:
Henry Hart.
Hart is Professor of Humanities at the College of William and Mary.
Previous Virginia State Poet Laureates include:
Carter Warner Wormeley
(December 18, 1936-August 24, 1938)
Charles Day
(appointed March 14, 1942)
Thomas Lomax Hunter (1948)
Leigh Buckner Hanes (1949)
Ruby Altizer Roberts (1950)
Guy Carleton Drewry (1970-1991)
Ruby Altizer Roberts (appointed Poet Laureate Emeritus in 1992)
Kathryn Forrester Thro
(July 1, 1994-June 30, 1996)
Margaret Ward Morland (1996-1998)
Joseph Awad (1998-2000)
Grace Simpson (2000-2002)
George Garrett (July 9, 2002-2004)
Rita Dove
(Sept. 20, 2004-June 25, 2006)
Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda
(June 26, 2006-June 2008)
Claudia Emerson
(August 26, 2008-July 28, 2010)
Kelly Cherry
(July 29, 2010-June 30, 2012)
Sofia Starnes
(August 2, 2012-June 26, 2014)
Ron Smith
(June 27, 2014-June 2016)
Tim Seibles
(July 15, 2016- July 1, 2018)
The Virginia Commission for the Arts provides support for arts groups and writers groups through grants and a large number of programs. The Commission also supports cultural activities, arts in schools and community arts projects. More information about programs and grants can be found on the link above.
The Poetry Society of Virginia was begun in 1923. Annual membership is $35.00. The Society hosts three poetry contests a year for students and adults. It also publishes an annual journal. For information on meetings, please see the link above. The Society is divided into seven regions in Virginia: Northern, North Central, North Western, Western, Central, Eastern, and Southeastern. The address for The Poetry Society of Virginia is: Poetry Society of Virginia, PO Box 14046, Newport News, VA 23608.
For the past several years, thousands of Virginia high school students have participated in the Poetry Out Loud State recitation competitions, sponsored by the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Your high school is invited to participate!
Poetry Out Loud is a wonderful program for students. The program helps the develop Stage and speaking skills, confidence and a love of poetry. Poetry really needs to be spoken to truly be enjoyed. Poetry Out Loud is a great program for students. To learn how to get your school involved in the competition, please see the link above.
Poetry Slams are events in which adults and students read and perform poetry for awards and prizes. There are many local events and even a National competition. Check with your local poetry group for the nearest Slam event and Slam schedules. The above link is for The Alexandria poetry slam, one of many in the State. I think you will find it very interesting.
**The Virginia Writers Club was founded in 1918. The Club has ten chapters all over Virginia. The Virginia Writers Club welcomes all writers in Virginia, from beginners to accomplished authors. The group provides events, critique groups and resources for writers. For membership information, please see the link above. The address is: Virginia Writers Club, Inc.PO Box 21301 Roanoke VA 24018.
The Appalachian Authors Guild is a group in Abingdon that meets (when possible) to provide critiques of writers work and to provide writing resources. The group is open to everyone. They are a chapter of the Virginia Writers Guild. Please see link above for more information.
Hampton Roads Writers is a group in Virginia Beach that welcomes all writers of all genres of writing and all skill levels. The group offers critique groups, contests and workshops. On September 19th, 2020 the group will host a ten hour virtual event. Please see the link above for more information.
The James River Writers is a group in Richmond that welcomes all writers of all skill levels and genres of writing. The group hosts writing contests, conferences (when possible) and an annual writing event. Traditional membership is $45.00 per year. Please see the link above for more information.
Virginia Christian Writers welcomes all writers of Christian fiction. The group provides monthly webinars and an annual conference. For calendar and membership information, please see the link above.
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Steven Robert Heine has created tee-shirts and merchandise to help support this site. We hope you will consider purchasing some.
Steven Robert Heine is an American poet and author. He has spent much of his life supporting poetry projects and events. He is the author of 8 volumes of poetry. In 2011 he was seriously injured in a fall that left him in great pain and almost unable to walk. He suffered a stroke in 2023. Heine receives no disability and relies on a small pension and retirement income. He is no longer able to make public appearances.
We hope you will consider purchasing some of the merchandise in the links below. Many are original tee-shirts and merchandise created by Steven Robert Heine.
Thank you!
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Steven Robert Heine is a West Coast poet & author. He has traveled extensively through the United States. He spent a year living in Virginia, in Falls Church. During that time, Heine traveled to many cities in Virginia. Heine has spent his life promoting poetry; serving as founder for many poetry contests. He is the author of fifteen books, including poetry, history and his own short auto-biographies. His books can be found on Ebay, Amazon and Amazon Kindle.
Heine was crippled in a fall in 2011 and now makes very few public appearances.