Pingry grad is a poet and a Scholar

Jenna Devine, 18, cannot remember a time when she was not writing.

She started with a book she made with crayons in kindergarten, penned short stories about her pet hedgehog in elementary school, and then evolved into a poet and short story writer. Her poetry has won awards, including a 2008 Governor's Award in Arts Education.

Now, the Lebanon resident has received a honor unlike any other. A recent graduate of the Pingry School in Martinsville, she has been named a 2008 Presidential Scholar in the Arts. She is one of 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts from across the country and the only one from New Jersey.

"Being chosen as a presidential scholar is amazing," Devine said. "It really is an affirmation -- this is what I want to do with my life. I want to be a writer. I love both poetry and fiction, and I get a lot of satisfaction from doing both."

Devine wrote her winning poems last summer in the creative writing program at the New Jersey Governor's School of the Arts at the College of New Jersey in Ewing. "I think the Governor's School was probably the best thing for me," she said. "I think creativity feeds itself. At Governor's School, you are around so many creative people. You hear other people's words, and that inspires you."

Devine was selected as a finalist for her poetry by the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts last November. She received a $3,000 level one award and spent a week in Miami in January attending writing and other workshops.

The foundation also nominated her to the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars. To her surprise, last month, Devine was selected as a presidential scholar. She is one of three writers chosen, and the only poet.

Devine will travel to Washington, where she will be involved in a community service project, later this month. The students will stay in the Georgetown University dorms and participate in a workshop on pursuing a career in the arts.

"I have always written," Devine said. "I don't remember a time when I was not writing. I have always known that this is what I want to do with my life."

Devine's favorite novel is Ian McEwan's "Atonement." She also loves Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Jhumpa Lahiri, and poets Billy Collins, Sharon Olds and Philip Levine.

As a winner of the 2008 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Contest, Devine will read her poetry at the Dodge Festival in September.

Besides writing, Devine enjoys dance and theater. She completed her senior independent study project on flamenco dance, performing at a recital at Pingry last week. She graduated from Pingry on Sunday.

Devine has studied dance for 13 years at the Eleanor Connell School of Dance in Annandale and was involved with Pingry's drama club. "Writing and theater go hand-in-hand," she said.

She spent a week in March in Positano, Italy, at the Sirenland Writer's Conference. Devine plans to attend Princeton University in the fall and pursue a career in writing and teaching.

Allison Freeman may be reached at afreeman@starledger.com or at (973) 392-5984.

Goddess

The time you buried me in the sand

I lost my legs beneath the earth,

forgot my limbs until you stooped

to my ear and said You're done

and I remembered my hands,

the sharpness of my elbows.

I cracked the hand-smoothed surface

of the beach, broke your fingerprints and emerged

like Athena from the head of the world.

-- Jenna Devine