Beware of Poet

The 2022 winner of the William D. Barney Memorial Chapbook Contest. This outstanding volume of verse is from the pen of Eric Blanchard. Growing up in Houston, Texas, Mr. Blanchard dreamed of dropping out of high school, but when the haze of adolescence cleared, he found himself in law school instead. After being a trial lawyer for a decade and a half, he ran away to Ohio, where he taught school and lived life for about a minute. Eventually, he returned home to help care for his parents. Eric's poetry has been included in numerous collections, both online and in hard copy. In 2013, his prose poem "The Meeting Ran Long" was nominated for Sundress Publications' Best of the Net anthology. His first chapbook, The Good Parts, was published in January 2020 by Finishing Line Press. Sponsored by the Fort Worth Poetry Society, in cooperation with the Poetry Society of Texas, the Barney Memorial Chapbook Contest is already in its sixth year. In that relatively short time, it is already recognized as one of the most prestigious contests in Texas. This year's winner, Eric Blanchard, joins a growing list of exceptional poets who have won this contest. The winners include Budd Powell Mahan, Ann Howells, Todd Hawkins, Robert Schinzel, Catherine L'Herisson, and Loretta Diane Walker.