Stephen Ratclife Wins Annual Book Award for Nature-inspired Works

GOLDEN GATE XPRESS -- Ratcliffe read excerpts from his collection at The Poetry Center to a group of eagerCreative Writing majors that filled the room. “It was really fascinating,” said Steve Dickison, director of the Poetry Center and the host of the event, following Ratcliffe’s reading. “It was wonderful to hear the work become music.” The Poetry Center’s Book Award is given annually to a single book of poetry that the center feels is exemplary. Any poet can enter his/her work as long as it is copyrighted and he/she provides a $10 entrance fee. Money collected from the fee is given to the winner of the award, along with an invitation to read his/her winning work at the Poetry Center. “It was really interesting,” said Sarah Marshall, a Creative Writing and French major, regarding the event. “I write a lot from memory and so it was interesting hearing a lot about writing in the present and the experience around you. I don’t do that very often.”