New Harmony poet wins Eclipse Poem contest

Indiana Humanities is pleased to announce that the official poet for the April 8, 2024, eclipse is Linda Neal Reising, a prolific writer and award-winning poet from New Harmony.

Her poem, The Reason We Gather for the Solar Eclipse, was inspired by her experience observing the 2017 eclipse, which she and her husband witnessed in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, one of the places with the longest time of totality.

Neal Reising said, “Not only was the physical experience one that I will never forget, but also the emotional aspect. To me, the eclipse was a spiritual event. I feel lucky to participate in a ‘once in a lifetime event’ for a second time.”

An Oklahoma native and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Neal Reising has had work published in numerous journals, including The Southern Indiana Review, The Comstock Review and Nimrod. Her work has also appeared in anthologies including Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write (HarperCollins), and Know This Place: Poetry of Indiana (Indiana Historical Society Press), and Let Me Say This: A Dolly Parton Poetry Anthology (Madville Press). 

Neal Reising has won numerous honors for her work, including four Pushcart Prize nominations. Her first full-length poetry collection, The Keeping (Finishing Line), won the 2020 Kops-Fetherling Phoenix Award for Outstanding New Voice in Poetry, and her second, Stone Roses (Kelsay Books) won the 2022 Eric Hoffer Award and the Western Heritage Wrangler Award. VIVIA-The Legend of Vivia Thomas: A Novelette in Poems (Kelsay Books), her latest full-length book, earned the Feathered Quill Book Award and the Literary Global Book Awards for Poetry and Novelette. Reising’s first book of fiction, Cigar Box of Loss: Stories from Route 66,is forthcoming from Belle Point Press.

“Linda’s piece rose to the top from more than 250 entries,” said Marisol Gouveia, Indiana Humanities director of engagement. “It’s great to have had such amazing participation from professional and avocational poets alike. Clearly, the eclipse inspired Hoosier writers to create, and we look forward to seeing how this unique event continues to be interpreted.”

Neal Reising will receive a cash prize of $500 and will be featured on Indiana Humanities’ website and social media. 

A second-place prize of $200 goes to Matthew Del Busto for What I know of Eclipses, and a third-place prize of $100 goes to Elsa Bell for On the Day of the Eclipse.

Find the text of these poems at IndianaHumanities.org/eclipse24.