The Shelter Island Library is now accepting applications for the fifth annual Bliss Morehead Poetry Grant. This grant of $1,000 is awarded each April to the library’s annual poetry competition winner.
Applicants must be unpublished poets aged 17 or older and reside on the East End of Long Island (Riverhead and points east).
Bliss Morehead was a resident of Shelter Island who dedicated much of her life to the art of poetry. As a student of poetry, and a gifted poet herself, she sought to share with us all “this most complex of cultural achievements,” according to the libary.
She was the founder and curator of the Shelter Island Poetry Project, which produced the annual April Poetry Month readings at the Shelter Island Library. As the curator of the Poetry Project, she called upon poets and readers of poetry to present carefully selected poems revolving around yearly themes.
The theme for 2026 is “War and Peace.”
Bliss wrote tirelessly about what she called “the frustrating and occasionally illuminating work we all take upon ourselves when we are snatched up by the demanding nanny/muse and forced to admit that yes, — we are poets. Or are attempting to be poets.”
“The library hopes that the grant will encourage those of you who have taken up the challenge of writing poetry to share with us your creations,” said the library in announcing this year’s grant application.
To apply for this grant, contact Sara Garcia at sgarcia@silibrary.org to receive an application and guidelines, or print out the application above. Submissions can be made to Ms. Garcia via email, on the Shelter Island Public Library website, via mail to Bliss Morehead Poetry Grant, Att: Sara Garcia, Shelter Island Public Library, PO Box 2016, Shelter Island, NY 11964, or in person.
The deadline for entries is Friday, March 20, 2026. The winner and runners-up will be announced on April 10 and will be invited to a poetry reading at the library on April 30.
The library owes its thanks to the late Mike Zisser for this memorial to his talented wife, Bliss Morehead.
