1) Rita has been asked to read and give a talk at the Life Lines Conference sponsored by the Medical School and Health Arts Network at Duke University, May 21-23.
The theme of the conference: bringing poetry as a healing agent into the community. Presenters are involved in brining poetry to incarcerated youth, survivors of domestic violence, mental health patients, fellow doctors and young med students, all of whom need healing. RIta will talk about the weekly poetry writing program she began in two shelters in Colorado some 20 years ago. She still facilitates writing sessions with the women (and gets healed by them in the process).
2. Rita received second prize for one poem and honorable mention for another in the Mark Fischer Annual Poetry Competition sponsored by the Telluride (CO) Arts and Humanities Council.