Skip to main content

Update: Fran Castan Wins U.K. Poetry Award

Wed, 05/19/2021 - 09:04
Fran Castan
Mia Santa Cruz

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.

 

Villages

Volunteers Take Up Invasives War at Morton

Most people go to the Elizabeth Morton Wildlife Refuge in Noyac, part of the National Wildlife Refuge system, to feed the friendly birds. On Saturday, however, 15 people showed up instead to rip invasive plants out of the ground.

Apr 24, 2025

Item of the Week: Wild Times at Jungle Pete’s

A highlight among Springs landmarks, here is a storied eatery and watering hole that served countless of the hamlet’s residents, including the Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock.

Apr 24, 2025

The Sweet Smell of Nostalgia at Sagaponack General

Stepping into the new Sagaponack General Store, which reopened yesterday after being closed since 2020, is a sweet experience, and not just because there’s a soft-serve ice cream station on the left and what promises to be the biggest penny candy selection on the South Fork on your right, but because it’s like seeing an old friend who, after some struggle, made it big. Really, really big.

Apr 17, 2025

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.