from River Heron Poetry Prize final judge, John Sibley Williams:
”The artistic and human worlds evocatively collide in “Ekphrastic Apogee”, which, through juxtaposition and dense imagery, asks the “big” questions about our nature by exploring the intersects of life and “organic decay”, “finely broken stone” and a tree’s hard roots. In it, we enter a “fleeting conversation about memory / and loss” and find no clear answers. This poem unravels into deeper meanings with each reading.”

Author, poet, and educator, Nancy Avery Dafoe writes across genres, including fiction, and has published eight books. Her poetry earned first place in the William Faulkner/Wisdom creative writing competition and her chapbook Poets Diving in the Night was a Central New York Book Award finalist. Her most recent book is a full-length book of poetry Innermost Sea. Other published books include a cross-genre memoir and poetry book An Iceberg in Paradise: A Passage through Alzheimer’s. She is the Letters Chair for the National League of American Pen Women (NLAPW).