The 2012 Bucks County
Poet Laureate will be bringing
a West Coast perspective
to poetry this fall.
Chalfont resident Lara
Adams Gaydos was named
the 36th Bucks County Poet
Laureate by Bucks officials
on Oct. 15. Gaydos’ presented
her prize-winning
poem, “She Forgives, She Always
Forgives,” to a crowd
inside The Orangery at the
Bucks Newtown Campus on
Dec. 1.
Closely embracing the title
of 2012 Poet Laureate, Gaydos
is now in charge of writing
poems for special
occasions inside the county.
Gaydos is excited to promote
poetry in the Bucks County
community and is currently
devising projects to work on
throughout the year. A poetry
work shop with young students
in Bucks County is her
current passion.
After graduating from Rutgers’s
University, the New
Jersey native packed up her
belongings and headed for
Colorado for a job as a
graphic designer.
“It was a great adventure,”
Gaydos said of the move.
Her award winning poem
captures the essence of Colorado’s
landscape. The region’s
natural sounds, scents,
mountains and landscape inspire
much of her poetry,
along with the people she
met there.
Her poems tell the truth in a
raw and poignant way.
Gaydos explained her motivation:
honesty is what a
reader will be able to connect
with. When a reader shares
the same emotional moment
depicted in a poem, that’s
when the work really resonates
with them.
She collaborated with many
poets during her time in Colorado
before returning to her
family in Pennsylvania. Gaydos
still sticks to her roots,
but stays in contact with her
friends from Colorado to
work on poetry together.
After winning the prize,
Gaydos was quick to contact
poet Lois Beebe Hayna, a 99-
year-old woman who leads a
Colorado poetry group, according
to a Bucks press release.
“She’s (Hayna) the
pillar of the writing community
in Colorado Springs,”
Gaydos said.
After her return to the region
Gaydos began entering
contests in the hopes of meeting
other poets and connecting
with those in her
community. Gaydos placed
sixth in the 2008 Bucks
County Poet Laureate contest.
When she submitted her
poems for 2012, she was not
expecting a win. She explained
that the poet laureate
does not pick the best one,
but whose poem was a hit
that year.
“I’m still the same poet and
I’m still learning,” Gaydos
said. “I’ve had dreadful
poems. I have a few that irritate
me. I think what a poem
really needs is an honest moment.”
According to Gaydos, the
key for students looking to
write is to follow your interests
and not worry so much.
Exploring the world and
gaining experiences is what
makes writing the richest.
“Get out. Get off the internet.
Travel. Enjoy. Keep a
journal, write it down,” she
said.
The Bucks County Poet Laureate
program, reaching back
to 1977, is the longest poet
laureate program in the state.
For over three decades of history,
the Commissioners of
Bucks County have supported
the program, which is
funded by the BCCC Foundation,
according to
bucks.edu.
For more information about
poet Laureate or other writing
contests, contact the college’s
Department of
Language and Literature at
215-968-8150.