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The S. Portia Steele Awards for Excellence in Poetry and Prose is designed to celebrate the memory and life of my friend and wife of more than 40 years.

Portia had always been interested in writing poetry and prose as a way of expressing herself. One of her first stories, written when she was seven years old, was about visiting Santa Claus at Macy's Department Store in New York City. From that day until she passed away in 2005, she wrote, and wrote and then -- wrote some more! She loved writing.

One of Portia's earliest endeavors was to co-found the Peninsula Poets Guild along with her friend Fred Bitter. Fred always wanted to have a Shoppe/Coffeehaus where poets could meet to read their own work. The Bitters opened Between the Bookends bookstore in San Mateo, California and together with Portia, organized the first poetry readings on June 10, 1986. The Poets Guild published an anthology of their work, Kaleidoscope©, in 1987.

Portia was the founder and instructor of Women on Writing©, a seminar for published writers sponsored by the Daly City Senior Center in Daly City California. Between the years of 1992 and 2002, as its facilitator, she helped scores of women (and some men too) with their writing and publishing. One task she asked her students to perform was to "submit' their work for publication, and to do so on a regular basis. As a result, many of them were published for the first time. Just as importantly, she learned from them as well.

During that time, for a total of 12 years, she published Prosetry©, a monthly newsletter enjoyed by subscribers from 11 countries around the world. Many promising poets and story-tellers had their works published for the first time in this newsletter. She also published Clips©, a series of instructional guides for writing techniques and publishing.

Portia had scores of articles, poems and stories published during her lifetime, including the prestigious The Writer magazine in Boston, San Francisco Chronicle, Frisson, Changes, Twilight Zone Magazine and Poetry Page. Other works include Fruitsalad: A Cookbook for Poets© published in 1980, Madness Works For Me© published in 1992 and Challenge Your Muse: A Toolbox for Writers©, in 1998. Portia was fond of writing contests, and was a frequent participant in writing competitions in California, New York, Iowa and others. Her most recent work, completed just before her illness, is the story of her  dearest  friends' journey as a hidden child in Holland during the Holocaust. It is currently awaiting publication.

It is in the spirit of Portia's love for writing that I conceived of these awards to celebrate her life as a writer. I especially want to thank Bree LeMaire for her help with this project. She introduced the concept to the California Writers Club and, together with the clubs' leadership and members, I'm proud we've been able to move into our first year of this annual award.

The S. Portia Steele Memorial Scholarship is being offered to continue her work as a scholar and teacher.

Portia was a student at the California State University East Bay and graduated in 1980. While she majored in Speech and Drama , she had a keen interest in Creative Writing and always favored that field of endeavor. A scholarship is being offered by the our foundation for women pursuing an academic degree with an emphasis in Creative Writing, and will be awarded once a year for a $500 grant of financial aid. The qualifying student will be judged on merit and financial need.

Dennis Steele
Castro Valley, California,
February 2006