Applebachsville Artist Named 50th Bucks County Poet Laureate 

A Milestone for a Local Poet

Rymond does not own a television. Instead, she might hear 25 species of birds sharing local news and gossip as she gardens on her small farm in Haycock Township, just north of Lake Nockamixon.

In fact, the local news the birds are tweeting about now is that Rymond won the 50th Bucks County Poet Laureate title. College officials announced the achievement after her seven previous entries and three times as a runner up. The 10 poems Rymond submitted this year rose to the top of 90 entries, said Professor Ethel Rackin, Ph.D. Rackin serves as director of the longest-running poet laureate competition in Pennsylvania.

“This truly was an incredibly talented field of writers who entered the contest this year,” said Rackin. “The caliber of entries we received is, in my view, clearly a reflection on the distinctive poetry community we’ve cultivated here in Bucks County.”

Celebrating the Winner and Finalists

Consequently, a reading and reception will celebrate Rymond, who is also a visual artist, creative writer, and farmer. The free event takes place at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, in Tyler Hall on the College’s Newtown Campus. Joining her are 2025 Bucks County Poet Laureate Madeline Marriott of Holland and preliminary contest judge Michelle Messina Reale.

In addition, final judge Jeanne Marie Beaumont selected three runners-up who will join Rymond at the Nov. 14 celebration. First runner-up Kevin Kaiser of Warrington, second runner-up Natalie Mera Ford of Doylestown, and third runner-up Camille Norvaisas of Feasterville will all participate.

Beaumont described the winner as “a keen observer of the natural world, right down to the smallest ‘glints of mica’ and ‘rover ants,’ while also attending to the ways the human is interwoven with it. This results in poems that often evoke the earliest poetic forms of spell, litany, and chant…”

Inspiration from the Natural World

Indeed, Rymond noted that all her poetry and fiction comes from her deep roots in the land, seasons, and creatures. “Even when I write of human endeavors, nature is present,” she explained.

Furthermore, Rymond has felt drawn to nature for spiritual sustenance since childhood. It offered a refuge from a tumultuous home life and severe bullying at school.

“The woods and fields were my place of peace and animals my trusted companions. That has only deepened as I age,” Rymond said. “We live on a miracle planet thick with interwoven relationships we are only beginning to understand – even while it is being sliced away by greed and violence. I will keep calling attention to the wonder of it all – even to the glints of mica and herds of pill bugs in a shovelful of garden earth.”

Artistic Roots and Published Works

After studying art at BCCC on and off for six years, Rymond ventured west. She earned a B.F.A. from the California College of Arts and Crafts, where she studied drawing, ceramics, and book arts.

“As I started classes there, I realized how well my Bucks faculty – Marlene Miller, Charlette Schatz, Alan Goldstein, and others – had prepared me,” recalled Rymond. “And even though the past couple of decades have been more about writing than visual art, the same concepts apply: perseverance, critical thinking, contrasts, composition…”

Later, around the year 2000, she turned toward creative writing. She eventually joined master poetry workshops led by the late College Professor Chris Bursk.

“When I joined in 2019, Chris and the other poets pulled me into deeper waters,” Rymond recalled. “It was pure joy, both in the writing and the finding of ‘my people.’”

Previously, Rymond authored the poetry chapbook “Spellbook” (Moonstone Arts) and children’s books “The Village of Basketeers” and “Oscar and the Mooncats” (Houghton Mifflin). Numerous journals and anthologies have published her poems, and her short story “Turn, Turn” won the 2020 Pennwriters Competition.

Today, she lives on 2.5-acre Goblin Farm in Applebachsville with her husband, painter Charles Browning. Together, they tend goats, chickens, honeybees, and a large garden while sharing two art studios and no TV.

“Charles and I met in art school 40 years ago, and as our lives came together, we chose our creative work over a more financially secure path,” said Rymond. “It doesn’t make sense on paper – but in terms of sharing a rich life of the mind, it sure keeps things interesting. And as for television – who has the time when the weeds and Orion are calling?”