Update, Friday, May 21: Fran Castan won the United Kingdom's 2021 Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine Wednesday night, following a reading of her submitted poem, "Voice Mail," and work by the three other finalists drawn from entries from around the world.
The honor comes with publication of the poem and an award of £1,000.
Original, Wednesday, May 19: Fran Castan, a past Long Island Poet of the Year who lived in Springs for many years, has a new accolade — she's shortlisted for the United Kingdom's Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine.
The award ceremony happens live online today, May 19, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., East Coast time, during which four finalists selected from entrants from 37 countries will read their work before the winner is announced.
"To add to the local interest," Ms. Castan said, "the poem was written for the late Siv Cedering" of Sagaponack, who was married to the sculptor Hans Van de Bovenkamp. "She was a Renaissance woman: poet, composer, novelist, musician, painter, and sculptor."
Ms. Castan now lives in Greenport. Her last book, "Venice: City That Paints Itself," paired her poems with paintings by her late husband, Lewis Zacks.
A link to the Hippocrates Initiative for Poetry and Medicine website and registration for the event is here.
