Richard Benvenuto High School Poetry Competition Winners' Reading

Wed, March 15, 2023 6:30 PM at RCAH Theater, Snyder Hall, 362 Bogue St., East Lansing

Each fall, the RCAH Center for Poetry holds the Richard Benvenuto High School Poetry Competition, with prize donated by Barry Gross in memory of his dear classmate, colleague, and friend Richard Benvenuto. 

This year, we received more than 200 entries from thirteen Michigan high schools. Please join us as we welcome the winners for an in-person reading of their winning entries with a reception to follow in the LookOut Gallery.

 

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View photos from this event here. 

 

About Richard Benvenuto: 

Richard Ercole Benvenuto taught in the English Department at Michigan State University for 20 years. From his office in Morrill Hall he conducted grad student seminars and advised students on the best paths for their lives. He loved teaching and was a published scholar of Victorian Literature. At the time of his death, Indiana University dedicated an issue of Victorian Studies in his honor. He published two biographies, one on Emily Bronte and the other on Amy Lowell. His next book would have been on Oscar Wilde. As a young grad student he was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, which he used to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing at Hollins College, Virginia. At Hollins College, he worked under William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies. Richard played music and wrote poetry throughout his life. He was married for 27 years to his wife, Joyce, and has three children and four grandchildren.