UA alum wins Yale Series poetry competition

Local poet and UA alumnus Richard Siken is the winner of the 2004 Yale Series of Younger Poets competition. The judge, U.S. poet laureate Louise GlŸck, selected Siken's manuscript "Crush" to be published by the Yale University Press April 2005.

Born in New York City and raised in Arizona, Siken received a master's degree in poetry in 1994 from the UA. He is co-founder and editor of the acclaimed literary magazine Spork. His poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, Conjunctions, Indiana Review and Chelsea.

In 2003, "Crush" was chosen by C.D. Wright as a finalist in the Academy of American Poets' Walt Whitman Award competition. Siken is also a recipient of an Arizona Commission of the Arts grant and a Pushcart Prize. His poem, "The Dislocated Room," appeared in "The Best American Poetry 2000," edited by Rita Dove. Siken attributes much of his success as a writer and editor to his experience at the UA. "I believe the pairing of an extraordinary faculty in the University of Arizona's Creative Writing Program with the amazing resources of the Poetry Center will continue to produce poets of a superior caliber."

This marks the third Yale Series of Younger Poets prize to be awarded to a UA graduate. The prize is the oldest annual literary award in the United States. GlŸck is the first female poet to serve as judge of the Yale Series of Younger Poets in the 84-year history of the series.

Guitar finalists perform free concert Sunday

The four finalists in the 23rd Annual Norman Douglas Sholin Memorial Guitar Competition will perform in a free concert Sunday. The finalists are performers selected in the preliminary round of the competition, which will be held on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Both performances will take place in the Music building, in Holsclaw Hall.

The competition promotes excellence in guitar music. Past winners of the Sholin Competition have gone on to compete in leading international competitions.

Norman Douglas Sholin, 1951-1980, founded and designed the guitar degree program at the UA. Sholin earned a bachelor's degree in 1974 and master's degree in classical guitar in 1978 from the California Institute of the Arts. In 1972 and 1973, he studied with teacher/musicologist Emilio Pujol in Cevera, Spain. He also played for AndrŽs Segovia in a master class in 1973.

The UA has an established reputation as a major international center for study of the classical guitar. Donations are accepted to the Norman Douglas Sholin Memorial Scholarship Award . The scholarship honors students who qualify for the competition, as well as the memory of Sholin, whose love for the guitar and its music is a continuing inspiration.