Judith Valente
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About Judith Valente
Judith Valente is an awarding-winning print and broadcast journalist, poet and essayist.
She began her work in journalism at the age of 21 as a staff reporter for The Washington Post. She later joined the staff of The Wall Street Journal, reporting from that paper's Chicago and London bureaus. She was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, first in the public service category as part of a team of reporters at The Dallas Times Herald investigating airline safety in the 1980's. In 1993, she was a finalist for the Pulitzer in the feature writing category for her front page article in The Wall Street Journal chronicling the story of a religiously conservative father caring for his son dying of AIDS.
For the past eight years, Ms. Valente has been a regular contributor to the national PBS-TV news program "Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly." She has won eight broadcast awards for her work on the show. Her work has also appeared on PBS-TV's "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer." She is also a commentator for National Public Radio and Chicago Public Radio where she covers religion, interviews poets and authors, and is a guest essayist.
Judith Valente grew up in Bayonne, NJ in the shadow of New York City. She graduated from the Academy of St. Aloysius in Jersey City, NJ, and received a bachelor's degree in English and classical languages from St. Peter's College in Jersey City. She holds a masters in fine arts in creative writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the daughter of the late Charles and Theresa Valente.
Judith is married to Charles Reynard, an Illinois Circuit Court Judge and poet. The couple lives in Chicago and Normal, IL.
They frequently hold workshops and symposiums in all corners of the country.
Abbreviated List of Awards
2008, Muriel Craft Bailey Finalist:
"Mother of God Monastery, Watertown, South Dakota." (Poem).
2005 Jo-Anne Hirshfield Poetry Award: "Inventing an Alphabet" (Poem).
Best Catholic Writing of 2004
-National Catholic Reporter
2004 National Aldrich Poetry Prize:
"Inventing an Alphabet" (Book), awarded by Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Mary Oliver.
2004 Unity Award in Media: “Misericordia” (Feature Film).
2003 Illinois Arts Council Poetry Award: "Green" (poem).
2002 Certificate for Creative Excellence: “Deaf Mass.” (Televised Report).
2001 Silver Screen Award: “Rural Churches“ (Televised Report).
Finalist, 2004 Emily Dickinson Prize
2008 Eric Hoffer Award (Poetry Book) First Runner Up: "Twenty Poems to Nourish Your Soul".
Judith recently sponsored a poet's workshop at her undergraduate Alma Mater, St. Peter's University, in Jersey City, New Jersey.
In 2008, Judith's many awards grew beyond the scope of this list.
In February, Judith and her staff at WGLT Public Radio won two Associated Press of Illinois 1st Place Awards in Best Newswriter and Best Series or Documentary. They also won three 2nd Place Awards in Best Investigative Feature, Best Hard News Feature and Best Use of Sound.
Click Here to see her more recent Awards.
