AND THE WINNER IS

Shannon O'Connor!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few months ago we ran a "poetry/ prose poem" receipt contest wherein we asked that you write something on the back of a receipt to the booksmith. It took a while for them to role in, but a few did!!! Shannon O'Connor is our winner and here is what was written on the back of her receipt!!!! I'll be sending her a gift certificate and some surprises too!

Keep an eye open for more contests (April is poetry month after all!!)


Here's our winner!



A while ago, Shannon ran
out of books to read, so she
went to various used bookstores
to fill the void. The books, in
piles on the floor, decided they
liked each other, and started
procreating. Now Shannon eats
two books for an afternoon
snack with her coffee.
The books on the floor cry when
one of their sisters gets
swallowed. Shannon doesn't like
to clean, she just eats the mess.
She's getting thinner.

Pre- Super Bowl Flash Contest ($, poetry, FAME)

Ok, take a receipt (from us)

• write a short poem/ flash fiction on the back of it



• send it to me

Kate Robinson
279 Harvard Street
Brookline, MA 02135

The winner will get:

• a gift certificate



• a book of poetry



• their poem on our FB and blog.

You have till February 10th (postmarked) or just hand deliver it.

Go Pats!!!!!!

3rd place in our flash poetry contest, Liz Witte!!!

(of the booksmith:)


"With a place
like this---

who needs
friends?"




Ms. Witte submitted an adage, that caused our judges to compromise their bladders... because, let's face it...it is kinda true.

Elizabeth Witte was born and raised in and around St. Louis, MO and currently resides in Somerville, MA.

2nd Place Poem!!!!

Congratulations Sasenarine Persaud!


BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH: LOVE WITHIN LOVE

Searching in the basement for a Palace
of the Peacock you find instead
a lookout on a hill overlooking
the Ottawa Valley, grass shimmering
like pages in your hand. Whose fingers
flipped these covers before revealing
the winter limbs of a writer's soul
full as pomegranate nipples tonight
can wait - upstairs a book sale;
we brush coats still damp
from the flurries outside and we are hungry
hungry hungry negotiating the book-bins.





Sasenarine Persaud is the author of 10 books. His awards include: The KM Hunter Foundation Award, the Arthur Schomburg Award; two Canada Council Poetry Awards, and a fellowship from Boston University. Persaud has a Master's in Creative Writing from Boston University. His work is used in colleges and universities in Canada, England, India, the Caribbean, and the United States. Two books new books are forthcoming in 2011: Unclosed Entrances: Selected Poems and Lantana Strangling Ixora.

Results: 1st Booksmith Flash Poetry Prize

Congratulations to our three winners, Elizabeth McGovern, Sasenarine Persaud, and Elizabeth Witte.

I will share the winning poems over the next 3 Saturdays.

Congratulations to our 1st Prize Winner: ($20 gift certificate to be used on our sweet poetry section, and taza chocolate) -Liz McGovern!





My Son in a Bookstore
-Liz McGovern

My son runs up and down
the aisles
Red curls blaze as he
descends upon the children's section.

Planes, trains, automobiles,
ducks, bunnies, pirates.

He moves the stools
Then the table
and with proper decorum
of his two years,
removes books one by one
from the shelves

He wishes he could read
Captain Underpants. I tell
him when he is older.
When he actually can read.

In a flash, he is again
on the other side of the store.

I glance at the other patrons,
sitting quietly and calmly
in the wooden chairs.

I worry what they must think
of me,
letting my son destroy
the serenity, the peace
of a bookstore. I worry
what they must think of him,
the feral child of "Mad Max,"
raised by wolves,
a misbehaving demon.

Arms loaded, I drop my
purchase on the counter.
The cashier smiles,
"What a wonderful child!"
Another coos, "What
great hair!"
"He must have so much fun!"

And I forget my worries.
Cassidy holds my hand
as we toddle out of the store together,
into the sun, and on our way
to other adventures.

Liz resides in Salem with her husband Ian, two year old son Cassidy, and two rabbits Sabrina and Snorbles. When she isn't entering poetry contests or working, she spends most of her time at playgrounds, yarn stores, and of course, bookstores. Her favorite poetry comes from the Romantics, and the last book she read was Kurt Vonnegut's Look at the Birdie.