Hahnville poet wins national recognition

Michelle Stuckey/Herald Guide

Barry North

Barry North worked as a refrigerator mechanic for the St. Charles Parish Schools for 28 years before he published his first poem in 2007.

Since then, his poems and short stories have been published in about 20 national literary magazines and this year he won his most prestigious honor, the 2010 A.E. Coppard Prize for Fiction with his story "Along the Highway." He was also named the winner of the 2009 Long Story Contest International with that story.

Now he can add two new accalades to his resume. He recently had a poem nominated for the Pushcart Prize and another earned honorable in the 2011 Allen Ginsberg Awards.

North has no formal training in writing but he calls his craft "the greatest voyage of discovery on the planet."

Despite only becoming a published author during his retirement, North said he has written poetry throughout his life to pass the time.

"I've always been interested in writing, but I would write poems periodically while I was working and I really didn't know what to do with them," he said. "Once I retired I devoted more time to it and started sending my work out more regularly, and I've had some pretty good success."

North lives in Hahnville with his wife, Diane. For now, North plans to continue writing poetry and short stories, but does have dreams to one day work on a bigger project.