Ten-year-old Victoria Vanoni was looking at the sky one day in July pondering what she should write about for a poetry contest when a bird flew across her field of vision.
"I wondered if a mother bird missed its baby," she said during an interview last week, and as she thought this, the words came to her: "I remember when you were young and set foot and stayed home, I remember when you started flying, somewhere else, going away from home…"
Then, she submitted the poem, "Fly Home," to a contest on Poetry.com, and included an essay about it. Victoria explained that the poem speculates on the possibility of the mother wanting to see her child again.
"[The mother bird] might want to see her baby again [and] like every mom, wants the child to remember her and to know [the baby] always has a home no matter what," she wrote.
Victoria, who had written significantly in the third grade, had made up her mind to enter the Poetry.com contest after she had found it surfing the web. Seeing the bird, thinking of its fate and feelings, gave her the poem she needed.
Victoria sent it off in July and received notice from Poetry.com in August that she was a semi-finalist in its International Open Poetry contest, competing for a grand prize of $1,000. More importantly, Poetry.com intends to publish the poem in a coffee table edition of poetry called Eternal Portraits.
This month, she was also informed that the poem would be printed in Poetry.com’s The Best Poems and Poets of 2003. Although Victoria can purchase copies of both books, Howard Ely, Poetry.com’s managing editor, said there are no entry fees and no obligation to purchase.
Poetry.com is sponsored by the International Library of Poetry. Its goal is to provide a venue where people can get their poems read, allowing poets to post their poems on its web pages. To date, more than 5.1 people have submitted poetry free of charge.
The site has been praised by TIME Digital Magazine, Forbes Magazine and former U.S. Poet Lauriat Robert Pinsky.
"When I want to write something, I sit down and think about it for a while," Victoria said.
"Fly Home" is her first published poem, although she has been writing poetry and essays for more than a year.
Her mother, Mary Beth Vanoni, said Victoria loves to write.
"I found her looking in a mirror and writing a poem about reflections," Mary Beth said.
Victoria said she is caught between seeking a career as a teacher or a writer, although she said she would love to publish books someday.
Mary Beth said she is not sure where the girl’s inspiration came from, because neither parent has the talent for writing.
A writer and a reader
The inspiration may come from Victoria’s voracious appetite for the written word.
"I love to read," she said, noting that her favorite books are the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park. But she reads other books as well.
"I’ll read anything," she said.
Victoria wrote a lot of stories and poems in the third grade in school, and still keeps a journal for one class. She said she learned a lot about writing in school, and intends to donate a copy of the book she is published in to the school.
"We’re very proud of Victoria," said Huber Street School Principal Pat Cocucci.
Victoria’s success comes at a very apropos time for Huber Street School, which is launching a new program to emphasis reading and writing by getting parents involved with the process.
Not only will Huber Street School have a professor in residence from New Jersey City University to help students learn about the process of writing, but the school is about to introduce a series of lectures by professional writers and poets aimed at parents as well as the kids.
"We want to get parents involved with their kids," Cocucci said. "We try to reach students as soon as they come here, and we feel this will be a good way to do that."