The busy life of the Suffolk County poet laureate

Poetry heard. Poetry preserved. This is what Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan of North Sea wants the most. For the last few years, her overarching quest has been to find a home for a Long Island Poetry Archive and Arts Center. The dream envisions a center housing hundreds of thousands of verses written by Long Island poets, a center that is also seen as a home for the literary arts.

While Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan continues her quest, the North Sea Poetry Scene’s annual poetry anthology is a smaller dream realized. Each year, the thick volume publishes and preserves poetry written mostly on Long Island.

This month, the fifth annual “Long Island Sounds: 2009 An Anthology of Poetry” was released (The North Sea Poetry Scene Press, 502pp, $30), featuring more than 210 poets, 157 from Long Island. Other contributing poets hail from across the country with a handful from around the globe.

The first area reading will be held on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center. The event is co-sponsored by the North Sea Poetry Scene (TNSPS), whose publishing arm, The North Sea Poetry Press, produces and edits the anthology.

The reading will feature some 30 poet-contributors to “Long Island Sounds,” Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan said in a recent interview. Each poet in the anthology was invited to contribute by Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan or guest editors Edmund Miller, Allen Planz and Peter Thabit-Jones.

Long Island Sound includes the well-known, the up-and-coming and first-time hopefuls. There are published poets, professors, editors, poet laureates, award winners and founders of poetry magazines (online and print). Poetry heavy hitters include David B. Axelrod (three Fulbright Awards, 17 poetry books, the first Poet-in-Residence in China and the third Suffolk County Poet Laureate).

Desmond Egan (14 poetry collections, one collection of essays, winner of the U.S. National Poetry Award, Goldsmith Press founder, editor and school artistic director) lives in Ireland. Other notable poets including George Wallace, Kay Kidde, Wendy Salinger and Simon Perchik, among others.

Contributors come from all walks of life: there is a tai chi instructor, an actor, a translator, a visual artist, a software developer, a Vietnam War veteran, a bookkeeper, an attorney, a housewife and a mathematician. Two recent Southampton High School graduates have poems: Michael Ambrose and Brendan Kirk. Both won scholarships from TNSPS last year when they graduated.

The diversity of established and emerging poets sets the anthology and the North Sea Poetry Scene apart. Mini-bios are included for each of the contributors to provide insight into the poems provided, Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan said.

“It’s inclusive,” she said. “It’s not elitist. We want to include poetry from all types of people.”

TNSPS was founded in 2001 by Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan. Its mission is to increase awareness of poetry and encourage creativity. TNSPS provides opportunities for poets to read, fosters a community among poets and ensures a vital poetry scene in the Hamptons and beyond.

The non-profit organizations sponsors poetry readings and student scholarships, honors poets, introduces literature writers through the TNSPS “Arts Forum” TV show and publishes “Long Island Sounds.” Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan is the founder-director of the non-profit organization and is its driving force.

It was her tireless efforts that helped earn Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan her position as the Suffolk County Poet Laureate for 2009-2011. The first female to hold the position, she was appointed by the Suffolk County Legislature in May. Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan has five poetry collections and one CD collection of her work.

This Saturday, she will be reading her own poetry at Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor at 7 p.m., when she will share the bill with award-winning poet Maria Terrone. Pleased about the present and the release of the fifth anthology, Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan continues to work and hope for a future that includes a poetry archive center based in the Hamptons.

A reading from “Long Island Sounds: 2009 An Anthology of Poetry” will be held on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center, 17 Meetinghouse Road, Southampton. The event is co-sponsored by the North Sea Poetry Scene. A $3 donation for the museum is requested. See www.southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org.

Copies of the book are available for purchase and refreshments will be served. For reservations or information, call 631-204-1240 or e-mail thenorthseapoetryscene@hotmail.com. The book is also available for sale at Canio’s Books in Sag Harbor, Black Cat Books in Bridgehampton and through www.lipoetryarchivalcenter.com. Information on TNSPS events, the hoped-for archival center, and donation opportunities can be found on the website.