SDSPS was organized in 1927 and incorporated as a South Dakota non-profit on August 8, 1970.
Our Mission
To encourage and foster the writing and publication of poetry by South Dakota writers and to promote excellence therein; to arouse in students of high school and college age, interest in the creative writing of poetry; to foster or publish Pasque Petals, a magazine, on a regular basis, thereby continuing the publication which was begun before the Society was organized, which publication is devoted chiefly to poetry, to stimulate by such proper means as the sponsoring of contests, awarding of prizes, and by other means of encouragement, the writing of poetry; and by these means to aid in the cultural growth of South Dakota.
SDSPS acknowledges that we share the traditional lands of the Oceti Sakowin, or Seven Council Fires nations, the proper name for the tribes of the Santee-Dakota, Yankton-Nakota, and Teton-Lakota people, referred to collectively as the Sioux.
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Strategies for Building Your Poetry Practice
For me, writing is a practice. It’s something I do nearly every day, and I incorporate a variety of methods to expand and deepen my skills. Before I approached poetry as a practice, I only wrote when visited by “the muse.” Once inspired, I’d write and write and write until the energy petered out. Then […]
Poet’s Table
The table used for writing at the site “ Poets ’Table” in the Black Hills was today (May 27) sawed in half and carried off by two individuals. As of this writing, they have been apprehended by the Custer County law enforcement. I really don’t know their motivation for doing such a deed. Nor do […]
Grounded vs. Obscure Poetry
Hi Everyone, I have a question which I would hope lends itself to debate among us. Just how much should any of us use such personal or obscure references and language in our writing so that almost every line of a poem has to be explained by the writer to a reader, or the poem […]
Reading Opportunity
You are invited to read your poetry at the Watertown Arts Night on Thursday, May 10th. This is an excellent opportunity to share the work you have published through Pasque Petals and to promote poetry in South Dakota. Members are also encouraged to bring any books they have published and would like to provide for […]
Vintage Poems- Unknown Worlds
Young poets who have the courage to send their words out into the world always impress me. The first line hooked me. Enjoy! Unknown Worlds By Winter Driving Hawk, Age 14, Pierre, South Dakota Teenage angst is not something I feel Look through the smoke and mirrors And through me you’ll find my pain real […]
Vintage Poems – Wind Instruments
A perfect capture of the wind here on the plains. Enjoy! WIND INSTRUMENTS By Candy Hamilton, Oglala In the otherwise silence of the night Night silence The wind bumps its rhythm Against the side of the house And train-whistles against the other The rhythm smooths out To dog howls Then to distinct words That finally […]