Independent Arts News Reporting College Launches Search for the Next Bard of Bucks County
Reported on Tuesday, July 22, 2025.
Pictured Above: R-:L: Dr. Ethel Rackin, Professor of BCCC’s School of Language & Literature & Clifford Eberly, Exhibitions Associate at Hicks Art Center Gallery. Photo Credit: BCCC Instagram.jpg
NEWSROOM POST: NEWTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA
Residents have until Sept. 19 to submit 10 original poems to be considered as the 49th Bucks County Poet Laureate
Newtown, PA – The search is on for the 49th Bucks County Poet Laureate, according to Bucks County Community College Professor Ethel Rackin, director of the longest-running poet laureate program in Pennsylvania.
Entrants must be Bucks County residents over age 18 who have never previously served as poet laureate, explained Dr. Rackin, a language and literature professor at BCCC, which administers the program.
Each entrant must submit an entry form with 10 original poems of any style, form, or length to the College’s School of Language and Literature. Entries must be submitted online by Friday, September 19.
The winner receives a $500 honorarium, a proclamation from the Bucks County Commissioners, and a reading and reception at Bucks County Community College with 2024 Poet Laureate Lake Angela, contest judges, and contest runners-up.
Two judges will blindly select the winner. The preliminary judge will narrow the entries down to a few dozen for the final judge, who will choose the winner and three runners-up from the pool of finalists. The 2025 final judge will be Jennifer Tseng, whose latest book, “Thanks for Letting Us Know You Are Alive,” poems made with her late father’s letters, won the Juniper Prize for Poetry. Her first book, “The Man with My Face,” won the AAWW’s National Manuscript Competition and a PEN American Open Book Award, while other books have won numerous awards and accolades. Her memoir-in-essays “Mixed Feelings” is forthcoming in 2026. Tseng is currently an associate professor of literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Nicole Greaves, whose poetry has appeared in numerous literary journals, including Cleaver magazine, Matter Poetry, American Poetry Review: Philly Edition, and Radar Poetry, will serve as preliminary judge. Her work has received recognition from the Academy of American Poets and the Leeway Foundation of Philadelphia. Greaves has been a finalist for several national prizes, and her work has also been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize. She was selected by Gregory Orr as the Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
There is no charge for entry. All work must be original and can be published or unpublished. All entries must be submitted online at www.bucks.edu/poetlaureateentry by September 19. For more information, contact Dr. Ethel Rackin at Ethel.Rackin@bucks.edu.
About Bucks County Community College
Founded in 1964, Bucks County Community College is a two-year, public institution offering more than 90 programs of study that lead to either an associate degree or certificate, as well as many workforce training programs on campus, on site, or online. Successful graduates directly launch a career or transfer to four-year colleges and universities to complete a bachelor’s degree, depending on the major. Classes are offered on campus in Newtown, Bristol, and Perkasie, and worldwide through Bucks Online. To learn more, visit bucks.edu.
