Dear Friends,
Robert Polito (who directs the New School's Writing Program) and I are happy to make it official: We're establishing the Paul Violi Poetry Prize at the New School. We will give out an award annually to the most deserving poetry student in the New School Writing Program, where Paul was a much loved presence. The details will be worked out soon.
To fund the prize, we hope that people will contribute what they can. All contributions are tax deductible. This is what donors need to do:
-- Make out checks to "New School Writing Program," with the words "in honor of Paul Violi" in the memo line
-- Checks should be sent to Office of Development, The New School, 79 Fifth Avenue, 17th Floor, New York, New York 10003, attention Mr. Francisco Tezén, Senior Director.
-- Contributors may wish to enclose a letter of intent, an example of which can be found here along with the instructions for donors.
-- If donors prefer to make a gift by credit card, The New School has a credit card form (which can be found on the university's Web site under "Ways of Giving"). There is a space to indicate a specific "Allocation of Gift."
Paul loved teaching at the New School. "Simply walking in the door made me a happy man," he said more than once.
Please spread the word. Thank you.
David Lehman,
Poetry Coordinator, The New School, MFA Program in Creative Writing
