Retired Gates Chili teacher Joseph Sottile recently won a Writers and Books contest.
— By NATALIE HANSEN-CIAO
He may have retired from teaching, but Joseph Sottile of Gates continues to shape the future of children and young adults through his writing.
Sottile recently won a poetry-writing contest offered through Writers and Books bookstore. Out of 250 poems, Sottile's poem "I am" is one of 20 to win the bookstore's Poetry Booth Contest.
Sottile taught English and reading to children in grades two through six at Walt Disney Elementary School for 33 years before retiring in 2000.
His love for writing began in the early 1970s when a visiting poet visited his class to teach poetry to his students. That poet, Sottile said, inspired him and his students to write poetry.
In 1998, his students talked him into putting his collection of poems together in a book for children.
"I thought it seemed like a good idea," he said. "I never imagined it would end up like it did." With a little help from his colleague, Lori DeLeonardisAman, who was an art teacher at Walt Disney, Sottile pubfished his first children's book called Picture Poetry on Parade using Aman's illustrations.
"It's fantastic and the illustrations are wonderful," Sottile said. "The children that have read it, love it. And it's gotten some Wonderful reviews."
The book and its reviews can be found on www.Booklocker.com. It was on the Web site's top 10 list for about two months, Sottile said.
"I feel honored to have been able to have my work listed on the site because they only accept about five percent of the books they see," he said. "It's not every day, you have a book published and see it appear on a top 10 list. It's really exciting for me."
Sottile learned about the Writers and Books poetry contest while he was taking a writing workshop at the Rochester bookstore. The poem that won him the contest began as a writing exercise for the workshop. After having a few friends and fellow-writers critique it for him, Sottile submitted his poem "I am" to the contest.
According to the judges, Sottile's poem was chosen because it "was very much in keeping with the intent of the project. to give a broad general audience the opportunity to hear and experience an eclectic selection of the poetic voices of our region, presented in an unusual, and fun, setting."
With the collection of 20 award-winning poems, Writers and Books will set up a poetry booth outside of its store at 740 University Avenue. People can walk into the booth, pick up a phone and hear the poems being read by their writers.
"It's a fantastic feeling to know that someone else understands your poems and enjoys them as much as you do," he said. "I never imagined my writing would take me to where I am today, but I'm enjoying the ride. It's a thrill."
Along with his wilting, Sottile is also a tutor for students in grades 6 through 12.
His passion, though, is reading his poems to students. Sottile volunteers his time to visit classrooms and entertain children by reading, and performing, the poems that he writes.
"I love sharing poetry with kids because it reminds them that it's okay to share feelings, and feelings aren't right or wrong. It's what we do with our feelings that counts," he said. Sottile is looking for classrooms to visit. Anyone interested in inviting him in to perform can contact him through e-mail at jsottile@frontienet.net.
His most recent project is a self-help book called 101 Secrets You Should Know. He's been working on it for more than a year.
The book is 110 pages of "coaching tools for preteens and parents who want more than survival," he said. He is currently searching for a mainstream publisher and looks forward to seeing it on bookshelves within the next several months.
Sottile's writing doesn't stop there. He has already started writing his next book and has written a collection of essays that have been published and republished in international magazines and publications.
"I guess you could say I'm still shaping the future with my waiting," he said. "It's my favorite past time. I come across quotes all the time that I feel really explain my feelings. The one I think really relates to my most recent work is 'Reach high, for the stars be hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal,' by Pamela Vaull Starr. That's what it's all about."