When I picked up my ringing phone I heard a male voice. Congratulations, Marsha, it said, you’ve been awarded… and, disgusted with yet another robocall, I immediately started to hang up. Was this for a cruise to the Bahamas? Or a free hotel stay in Florida? Maybe a discount on a walk-in tub… I’m probably […]
Serendipitous Writing Read More »
We lost a great poet this year. The quill of Mary Oliver will ink no more, but the memory of her wonderful nature poems will resonate eternally. And when the natural heritage she captured so beautifully in her poetry has been annihilated by the wanton lust of man, we will remember, what once was, through
Mary Oliver: A Modern Day Thoreau Read More »
Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 annual poetry contest: Donna Kelly, Katy Beem, and S.D. Bassett. Click below to read their poems! Image by Zan C under the creative commons license on Flickr.
2018 Annual Contest Winners: Portrait Category Read More »
Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 Annual poetry contest: Julie Martin, Judy Larson, and Kelli Schmidt- Bultena. Click the link below to read their poems! This week’s post highlights the winners in the landscape category, and next week a post will go live with the portrait category winners.
2018 Contest Winners: Landscape Category Read More »
As many of you know, the annual SD Festival of Books is approaching this weekend, and it intends to brings writers and readers together. I was just reading through the various events and noting which ones I wanted to attend, and I just thought it might be useful to talk about the specific poetry events
What does the SD Festival of Books Offer Poets? Read More »
Members of SDSPS will meet Saturday, Sept. 22, at the First United Methodist Church in Brookings, room 204, from 4:30-6 p.m. The general membership of our organization is invited to attend; so please spread the word. Meeting Agenda: President Bruce Roseland presides, calls the meeting to order. In attendance: Distribution of Board Meeting Agenda. The floor
Annual SDSPS Meeting: Saturday Sept 22 Read More »
We all want it, in some way or another. For our words to be indelible, celebrated, and widely read. To write the next “Birches” or “Wild Geese.” To have our poems read aloud into microphones at weddings, funerals, and commencements. To be this generation’s Elizabeth Bishop or John Keats. We want our words to matter;
So, You Wanna Be a Poet Read More »
On June 30, 2019, the four-year term of South Dakota Poet Laureate Lee Ann Roripaugh will end. The SD State Poetry Society has been given the responsibility by SD statute 1-22-7 of nominating a candidate to the governor who will be appointed poet laureate. The term of office begins July 1, 2019. The new SD
Candidates Sought for SD Poet Laureate, 2019-23 Read More »
Celebrate: We want to know Sing to me of South Dakota, tell it like Carl Sandburg did about Chicago’s big shoulders. Tell me about the workers of infinite variety within this state. How goes their day? Tell me the what, tell me the why, tell me about a day in your life. Did Spring creep
Celebrate: We Want to Know Read More »
I find poetry to be the most liberated literary art form in the English language. Poetry is the art form that the writer has license to bend and break grammatical and spelling rules. Poetry is the anvil where ideas can be forged and molded with the least contamination of conventions. With freedom comes responsibility. Without
Poetry: A Liberated Art Form Read More »