Post Classifieds
Poets tweet to win Butler's contest
By Spencer Trotman
On April 17, 2013
In celebration of National Poetry Month, the E. H. Butler Library is hosting a Twitter poetry contest
April 15-24.
At least one poem submitted by each student has to contain something about libraries, books, reading
or the E. H. Butler Library. Students should tag their poem entry posts to the library's Twitter handle,
@askehbl.
"The beauty of poetry is that anyone can do it," said Mark Hammer, a lecturer in the English
department. "Twitter is a great tool to use as a medium to write a poem."
Every year the library staff attempts to throw a contest to celebrate the month. Katie Bertel, a reference
librarian, said she wanted to make a change.
"In the past we did more traditional poetry, this time we wanted to do something different." Bertel
added, "This year we came up with the idea of doing something on Twitter. Creating a poem in 140
characters or less is a bit of a challenge."
Berten said that since many students have Twitter, they will have a familiar platform to work with.
"We'll have three winners at the end of the contest," she said. "Students who want to participate need to
register, so we have correct contact information. That's important because Twitter names can be a little
deceiving to who they actually are."
According to Bertel, anyone is allowed to participate in the contest .The top tweets will be posted next
week. People will vote on which ones are the best and that will determine the winner.
"You probably read hundreds of tweets a day, a lot of them are about nothing," Hammer said. "Writing
poetry on Twitter is a way to spread something that's actually meaningful."
Students are limited to one entry per three tweets a day. For the entire contest, there is a maximum of
30 tweets that can be submitted.
"I think it's rather easy to write a poem in one tweet," Hammer said. "You can get a point across in 10
words. It's much more difficult to write a 500 word poem."
Bertel said the winners of the contest will be issued a prize for their top voted tweets.
"We haven't confirmed the prizes yet, we're not 100 percent sure what they will be," she said. "It will
be something writing related."
Anna Morton, a junior from Washington D.C. said that as an aspiring teacher, she is glad to participate
in a contest like this.
"It will be a helpful tool for me to learn different and challenging ways to express myself, even if it's
through Twitter," she said. "Hopefully the contest will increase the awareness of poetry and how much
of an empowering tool it can be."
Bertel said the library is trying to promote the contest around campus and get students to register on the
library website.
"We are having bookmarks created to pass out to students in the library and in the student union," she
said. "There is also a digital sign that's going to be put up that runs through campus. We also have our
Twitter, Facebook and blogs to post updates."
Bertel said she hopes to see more engagement with students on campus in the future through different
types of contests.
Spencer Trotman can be reached by email at trotman.record@live.com.
Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly
Recent The Record News Articles
Students donate shoes, raise money for Boston bombing victims
Buffalo State's Evergreen program is teaming up with the nonprofit Herding for the Hurting in collecting donated shoes to raise money ...
Chartwells plans campus food truck
The food truck phenomenon has made its way to campus as the route, menu and name of a new Chartwells truck will be decided on by ...
USG sens motion 'no confidence'
Correction: In light of new information learned following the publishing of the original version of this story, The Record would like ...
Discuss This Article
GET TOP STORIES DELIVERED WEEKLY
FOLLOW OUR NEWSPAPER
LATEST THE RECORD NEWS
- We've Moved to www.buffstaterecord.com!
- Obama divulges new higher education initiative during visit to UB
- Ailing Podolefsky steps down as president
- SUNY appoints Cohen interim president
- President Podolefsky announces leave to fight cancer
- Rappers put Pepsi in a bind
- Congrats to grads: take next step with gratitude
RECENT THE RECORD CLASSIFIEDS
OUTSIDE THE LINES
- A Story To Sing About
- The Gap in Gum Care: Why Caring For Your Teeth’s F...
- Top Tips for Signature Scents and Better-Smelling Laundry
- A Dog Trainer’s Top Tips to Support Pets Through Life S...
- Clear the Air of Indoor Pollutants This Spring
- Stroke & Dementia in Black Men: Tips for Staying Healthy...
- Hispanics and African Americans at Higher Risk for Eye...
- African Americans at Higher Risk for Eye Disease
- Infinity Kings: Final Book In A Favorite Fantasy Series
- What You Need To Know About Keratoconus and the iLink...
FROM AROUND THE WEB
- Don’t Let Diabetes Shortchange Your Golden Years
- No Child is Forgotten By Marine Toys for Tots
- Sweeten Your Springtime Salads With Healthy Chilean Grapes
- Young Author Translates 4,000-Year-Old Text to Reveal...
- Keeping Cool and Energy-efficient Amid America’s “...
- Addressing Sarcopenia with a Healthy Diet
- Subway’s New Wraps Elevate Eating on the Go
- Family Teacher Conference Topics Beyond Academics
- Youth Take Down Tobacco
- BookTrib’s Bites: Four Reads to Kickoff Spring
COLLEGE PRESS RELEASES
- Shoff Promotions Comic Book & Sports Card Show
- Semiconductor Research Corp unveils 2024 Research Call, $13.8M Funding
- Charles River Associates Opens Second Scholarship Cycle, Expands to the UK
- BLUMHOUSE AND AMC THEATRES LAUNCH FIRST-EVER HALFWAY TO HALLOWEEN FILM FESTIVAL
- THE GEN Z IMPERATIVE: LISTEN TO FEELINGS AND GIVE GEN Z A VOICE
