Berkeley City College English instructor Sharon Coleman was awarded the Maverick Award for poetry by the Ruth Weiss Foundation. Coleman has taught poetry, creative writing, and composition at BCC since 2022. Coleman’s submission, titled “was it for this,” is a section of a longer manuscript she’s been working on for four years titled “hand-me-down.”

Coleman describes the poem as an autobiographical piece, exploring memories of growing up in San Carlos with her family on a dairy farm with a garden. She was inspired to submit this particular poem because of the grant application’s call for how the artist’s work encompasses the spirit of the maverick, along with the Ruth Weiss Foundation’s focus on the natural environment.

She will use the grant money to join her husband, a printmaker, for a collaborative exhibition in Chilé titled Taller 99. She will work alongside printmakers by adding poetic texts and also help create collaborative exercises.

Coleman was particularly excited about her students’ response to hearing she was awarded the grand prize. She posted news of the award on her Facebook page and a number of students commented and reacted. “I encouraged my students to apply for this award. It’s great for students because it promotes emerging poets and youth poets,” said Coleman. “The exciting thing is this is it’s a sizeable monetary award, so it’s very good for young poets.”

Congratulations Sharon!