About Janie E. Bibbie
Janie E. Bibbie’s journey started with a journal in 2019, through a season marked by both love and loss. Inspired by the life she’s lived, her faith, and the divine help she feels guiding her, Janie writes to give voice to hope, solace, and the beauty in everyday moments.
Accomplishments & Inspiration
Janie is creator of 17 self-published books, most of them poetry. Each features photographs by her late husband, who was a gifted photographer.
She served as Poet Laureate of Tompkins County for two years (2023-2024), a role in which she read at county legislature meetings, led workshops, and carried poetry into the community, into schools, from “Poems on the Porch” to public events.
Her first book, Alzheimer’s Up Close and Personal: A Journal of Experiences, Concerns and Thoughts, came from her journal entries during her husband’s struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. That book marked the beginning of sharing her writing publicly.
Janie’s poems come from God. They arrive suddenly, and she writes until the words stop coming. The world around her, faith, daily errands, memories, grief, remembrance, and light feeds her creative heart.
Her husband’s photography accompanies her words, becoming part of the flow, images and poems moving together, like light and shadow completing one another.
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“Once, I was walking in the middle of the afternoon when the words pressed so hard I had to stop. I leaned against a building, pulled out my little notebook, and wrote the poem right there. I tried to ignore it, but the words kept coming until they were done.”
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My Story
A poem about my life.
Service & Awards
Poet Laureate of Tompkins County (2023–2024)
Janie was appointed as the 11th Tompkins County Poet Laureate, a role established to honor outstanding poets. She read at County Legislature meetings, shared her poems at schools and events, and created Poems on the Porch, bringing poetry directly to neighbors who couldn’t easily leave their homes.
Though she was surprised by her appointment, “I’m not a professor and I don’t have a doctorate”, her selection showed that poetry flows not just from credentials but from lived experience, faith, and service.
New York State Senate Commendation Award (2025): Presented by Senator Lea Webb at the Women’s History Month Award Celebration, recognizing Janie’s contributions as Poet Laureate and her dedication to inspiring others to write and share their words.
Recognized by local organizations including the Community Arts Partnership, which administers the Laureate program, and featured in outlets like Tompkins Weekly, Ithaca Times, 607 News Now, and WICZ-TV.
For more than 50 years, Janie has been deeply rooted in Ithaca and Tompkins County. She serves as a trustee, deaconess, and caregiver group leader at Calvary Baptist Church, is an active member of Business Leaders of Colors, the Greater Ithaca Activities Center’s Senior Program, and the Tompkins County Quilters Guild.
Her poetry is not only read on stages and in print, it is carried into porches, circles of caregivers, senior centers, and churches. Through every role, she keeps creating her own opportunities to read, encourage, and connect.
Invitation
One of Janie’s greatest joys is sharing her poems with others, in living rooms, on porches, at churches, schools, libraries, and public events. Every reading is a chance to connect, to encourage, and to remind people of the light within words.
If you would like to invite Janie to read, or if you simply wish to reach out, she welcomes your message.