2023 MPS Poet of the Year: Linda Watson Owen
Linda Owen has served MPS as state president from 2018 to 2020, and has also served as vice president, and as president of the Jackson area Central Branch. Her contributions to MPS include editing and co-editing the 2019-2022 editions of The Mississippi Poetry Journal. She has sponsored and judged multiple categories in MPS Spring Contests, as well as having judged in other out of state competitions. Her delight in sharing poetry with other groups in a variety of settings is a source of enjoyment for Linda and for all who hear her.
Linda’s poems have won awards and honors, both in the yearly MPS contests and in other competitions. Her poems have been published in multiple journals and other avenues including the Delta Poetry Review, The Font: A Literary Journal for English Teachers, Ancient Paths Literary, The Ekphrastic Review, Visual Verse, Alive Now, Haruah, and Cross Times. Other publishings include the Society of Classical Poets, Tishomingo Arts Council, Breath of Fresh Air Press, Poets Anonymous, 3-1-6: A Journal of Christian Thinking, Utmost Christian Writers, FaithWriters, and Tunica Voice. For three years, Linda was the weekly Poetry Corner columnist for the online site Ezraweb: Home for the Christian Family.
Linda was born and raised in Indiana before attending Nyack College in New York and Asbury University near Lexington, Kentucky where she met her husband, Randy Owen. They married and moved to his home state, where she fell in love, once again, ...this time with Mississippi. She says, “I was charmed by this remarkable state, its people, its beauty, ...its timeless, yet timely, depth of being. Through the Mississippi Poetry Society, I’ve become friends with writers whose pens are as gently wise and as powerfully evocative as the experiences that run through every generation here. I had the privilege of seeing Mississippi with fresh eyes when I came many years ago, and, as I grew into communities here, becoming one with this vibrant state became a great delight in my life, an inseparable part of who I am today.”
Linda, a former high school English teacher and the wife of a United Methodist minister, shares that ministerial appointments over the years led them throughout the state of Mississippi. She adds, “I’ve loved the unique gifts, the indelible character and charm, of every area where we have lived.” Linda’s prize-winning poems “I Sing a Song of Mississippi” and “Altered State” are two of many that reflect her heart for Mississippi. These, and a variety of other poems reflecting an array of life experiences, appear in her Poet of the Year 2023 book, A Gift of Dappled Light.
Linda’s poems have won awards and honors, both in the yearly MPS contests and in other competitions. Her poems have been published in multiple journals and other avenues including the Delta Poetry Review, The Font: A Literary Journal for English Teachers, Ancient Paths Literary, The Ekphrastic Review, Visual Verse, Alive Now, Haruah, and Cross Times. Other publishings include the Society of Classical Poets, Tishomingo Arts Council, Breath of Fresh Air Press, Poets Anonymous, 3-1-6: A Journal of Christian Thinking, Utmost Christian Writers, FaithWriters, and Tunica Voice. For three years, Linda was the weekly Poetry Corner columnist for the online site Ezraweb: Home for the Christian Family.
Linda was born and raised in Indiana before attending Nyack College in New York and Asbury University near Lexington, Kentucky where she met her husband, Randy Owen. They married and moved to his home state, where she fell in love, once again, ...this time with Mississippi. She says, “I was charmed by this remarkable state, its people, its beauty, ...its timeless, yet timely, depth of being. Through the Mississippi Poetry Society, I’ve become friends with writers whose pens are as gently wise and as powerfully evocative as the experiences that run through every generation here. I had the privilege of seeing Mississippi with fresh eyes when I came many years ago, and, as I grew into communities here, becoming one with this vibrant state became a great delight in my life, an inseparable part of who I am today.”
Linda, a former high school English teacher and the wife of a United Methodist minister, shares that ministerial appointments over the years led them throughout the state of Mississippi. She adds, “I’ve loved the unique gifts, the indelible character and charm, of every area where we have lived.” Linda’s prize-winning poems “I Sing a Song of Mississippi” and “Altered State” are two of many that reflect her heart for Mississippi. These, and a variety of other poems reflecting an array of life experiences, appear in her Poet of the Year 2023 book, A Gift of Dappled Light.
A Gift of Dappled Light
A collection of poetry by MPS 2023 Poet of the Year Linda Watson Owen.
a.co/d/9rxf7o9
A collection of poetry by MPS 2023 Poet of the Year Linda Watson Owen.
a.co/d/9rxf7o9
Mississippi Poetry Journal
A collection of contest winners is compiled yearly and can be purchased. The 2023 version of Mississippi Poetry Journal is available for order on Amazon.
a.co/d/5a7loxi
A collection of contest winners is compiled yearly and can be purchased. The 2023 version of Mississippi Poetry Journal is available for order on Amazon.
a.co/d/5a7loxi
The 2022 version of Mississippi Poetry Journal is available for order by request. Please contact one of our state officers if interested in purchasing a copy.
The 2021 version of Mississippi Poetry Journal is available for purchase on Amazon. Follow the link to purchase:
a.co/d/hzeytKn
a.co/d/hzeytKn
A Separate Self
A collection of poetry written by Daniel Pickett over roughly a 20-year period, with a mixture ranging from deeply autobiographical to lighthearted musings. Each poem represents a moment or feeling in the author's life that felt worthy of having a poetic memory attached. For purchases, visit the link below:
a.co/d/iNHfBWV
A collection of poetry written by Daniel Pickett over roughly a 20-year period, with a mixture ranging from deeply autobiographical to lighthearted musings. Each poem represents a moment or feeling in the author's life that felt worthy of having a poetic memory attached. For purchases, visit the link below:
a.co/d/iNHfBWV
Horn Island Vista
For order inquiries, contact the author directly via email at brendafinnegan@ymail.com.
For order inquiries, contact the author directly via email at brendafinnegan@ymail.com.
