Maxwell Corydon Wheat, Jr. was acclaimed Nassau County Poet Laureate on June 24, 2007 by the poetry community of Nassau County,with the support of poets from the greater Long Island area.
Max’s love of poetry and his philosophy that “if you can enjoy poetry, you can write poetry” led him to establish poetry programs throughout Nassau County. He has given workshops and talks at the Freeport Memorial Library. For many years he ran a program in Roslyn at Cedarmere, the home of poet William Cullen Bryant, where he enticed local residents to attend and enjoy poetry. He was on the board at the Walt Whitman Birthplace in West Hills and helped organize its annual poetry contest for school children. He presently runs two Taproots programs (workshops for senior citizens) in Syosset and Port Washington. He runs a workshop at the Hempstead Plains at Nassau Community College in Garden City, and he conducts a course, You Can Write Poetry, at the Farmingdale Adult Education program in Farmingdale. In addition to these programs, he gives readings and talks throughout Long Island.
As NCPL, 2007-2009, he conducted a Nassau County school-wide poetry contest, grades kindergarten through twelfth, to “inspire elementary and secondary students to create the excellent poetry they are capable of writing.”
The contest resulted in an anthology, Young Voices, a historic first for Nassau County. The 195 students from various local schools whose poems were chosen for the anthology each received a free copy of the book. Copies were also donated to each of the 55 libraries in Nassau County for future inspiration of children and adults. An Award Ceremony Festival to celebrate Young Voices was held on Sunday, April 26, 2009 at the Freeport Memorial Library. In attendance were:
Nassau County Comptroller Howard Weitzman who spoke and presented 13 citations to the top 13 schools entered in the contest;
Honorable Wayne Wink, Democratic Legislator, who spoke words of encouragement to the students;
Mr. James Reed, representative for County Executive Tom Suozzi, who congratulated the students.
Sixth grader Michael Vincent Crapotti of Garden City Middle School told a Newsday reporter that poetry is his way to express the way he thinks and feels and that, “it is terrific to be published.”
For information about Maxwell’s ongoing work, please visit his website, MaxwellCorydonWheat Jr.com
Maxwell Corydon Wheat Jr. passed away on June 7, 2016.