Judith Lyn Sutton of Campbell, a well-known Saratoga theatrical personality, has been named fifth-place winner in the Spring Awards of Poetic Excellence contest sponsored by Sparrowgrass Poetry Forum in Sistersville, W. Va.
Sutton's "Equestrian" placed fifth among thousands of entries in the contest. Sutton holds a masters in English and drama from San Francisco State University. She has taught at Saratoga High School for many years and at West Valley and Evergreen colleges. She was recently awarded the prestigious Dorothy Wright Award for excellence in teaching from San Jose State University.
Sutton studied professional theater at ACT in San Francisco and toured Scotland with a professional acting troupe.
In 1975, she founded Valley Institute of Theatre Arts in Saratoga, a well-regarded drama company which staged an award-winning Shakespeare Festival.
She wrote a number of plays that were successfully produced, including Cherished Christmas Classics, which many came to consider a holiday tradition. During the VITA years, she twice received a Woman of Artistic Achievement Award. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation also recognized her for service to the arts.
In June, 1991, she founded a new company, Shakespeare Theatre Arts Repertory, also in Saratoga, which performed at Benbow Lake and Sanborn Park.
Upon leaving the theater, she turned to writing poetry. Her work has been featured on tapes produced by the National Library of Poetry, and she is a member of the International Society of Poets, which honored her with a merit award in 1994.
She has won awards for her poems in eight different national poetry contests. Currently, Sutton is collaborating with composer Paul F. Page, who has set 22 of her poems to music for voice and piano. Together, they perform in concert.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, October 16, 1996.
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