Shann Palmer

The Shann Palmer Poetry Contest

The Shann Palmer Poetry Contest is a partnership between James River Writers and Richmond magazine to encourage Virginia poets to share their best work. Submissions will be accepted from January 1, 2018 through February 28, 2018. All 2018 submissions are electronic.

The contest is named after Shann Palmer, a long-time JRW volunteer and board member, beloved poet, and a wild- and wise-hearted creative who shared her spirit and talents freely, inspiring and encouraging others in the literary community. She passed away in December 2013, and the contest (formerly “Best Poetry Contest”) was renamed in her honor the following year.

First prize: $500, publication of winning poem(s) in Richmond magazine, and a ticket to the annual James River Writers conference.

Tarfia Faizullah portraitThe 2018 judge was Tarfia Faizullah.

For more information, visit The Shann Palmer Poetry Contest

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Shann Palmer (1950-2013): What Remains

A Remembrance by Erica Orloff

ShannEvery time I think I am all cried out about the death of my beloved friend, poet Shann Palmer, it turns out I am not. As I fell into bed last night, again I sobbed for missing her. She left us far too soon, collapsing in mid-December from a heart attack, lingering in a coma for about ten days, before passing on December 21st, just before her birthday. This was a spitfire of a woman.  I fully expected her to be raising hell well into her nineties, or to be sitting side by side with her in rocking chairs laughing and talking poetry and words.

But I know, because that is how mourning works, that time will lessen the intensity of the grief, until it feels less like a blade and more like a butter knife. I, and all who loved this amazing woman, will cry less often. And then we’ll have What Remains.More

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The Lowdown on the Arts & Culture Xpo, Saturday June 29, 2013

I’ll admit, it took me a while to cotton on to the whole concept of the Arts and Culture Xpo. They give you money? For free? And it’s yours to give to whatever nonprofit you choose, including JRW? Why, sign me up!

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The Xpo is an annual event presented by CultureWorks, a consortium whose sole purpose is to promote cultural and artistic endeavors in the Richmond area. The Xpo, held this year at the Greater Richmond Convention Center on June 29th, spotlighted the region’s many nonprofit arts and culture organizations. Over 100 local groups were represented, including not only the James River Writers, but Henley Street Theatre, Gallery5, the Library of Virginia, Richmond Shakespeare, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum, Conciliation Project, Podium Foundation, and many, many, many more. Patrons (technical term: “Cultural Shareholders”) were given bank envelopes with “Xpo Bucks” and encouraged to browse the booths, checking out the variety of artistic and cultural endeavors available in Richmond, and supporting the organizations that caught their fancies. Ninety (“real”) cents out of every $1 Xpo Buck went directly to the nonprofit at the end of the day. Some booths displayed their creative wares and services; others snared visitors’ eyes and Xpo Bucks by offering something in exchange: t-shirts, CDs, raffle tickets.

At the JRW table, it was custom-written haiku and zombie stories.

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Executive Director Katharine Herndon and Program Director Sheila Sheppard Lovelady manned the booth, churning out zombie gore and poetry while chatting with visitors and fans. Youth Advisory Board member Annesha Sengupta was also there to lend a hand for much of the day, and poets Shann Palmer and I stopped by to write a few haiku on our way to the stage.More

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Waxing Poetic: A Recap of June on the James

It was most definitely a night to be remembered. No, I’m not talking about your junior prom or graduation day, silly, but about the 2013 June on the James, our annual fundraising soirée, held on the evening of Thursday, June 6.

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Check out Facebook for more snapshots of the event as well as photobooth pictures!

Hosted by Shann Palmer and again held at the gorgeous Dominion Riverfront Complex, the night was studded with fabulous food, tempting silent auction wares and JRDub-bers in their chic and sophisticated finest mixing & mingling. But that’s just the tip of this metaphorically bedecked iceberg: the fête also boasted live art by Eugene Vango, live music by the Carytown Ramblers, photography by Mara Dovis, a fortuneteller, a raffle, and, yes, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

An evening of class, laughs, and general literary high-jinks indeed… as well as some serious celebration: More

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