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.
Subscribe to recieve updates from SDSPS!
Thanks for subscribing! Please check your email for further instructions.
Stay Informed
Vintage Poems – The Peace of Prairies
I will always love a place poem, especially one about a place I love: the prairie. And, oh! Those last three lines! Showstoppers. Enjoy! THE PEACE OF PRAIRIES By Grace Dickinson Sperling, Oak Park, Ill. To heal my spirit’s ill there seemed no cure; With diligence I searched from pole to pole And grew accustomed […]
“Plow it and Find Out”: Midwestern American Poetry
[The following article is an updated version of an article I wrote a little over a decade ago. It was published in South Dakota Review.] Before I studied Zen I saw mountains as mountains, waters as waters. When I learned something of Zen, the mountains were no longer mountains, the waters no longer waters. But […]
Vintage Poems – ZED
This reminded me of a Dorothy Parker piece. I love poems like this, ones that make you laugh and make you think and ones that have hearken back to another era. Enjoy! ZED By Jane Hoyt Lamb, Hill City I have added to my life By temperance and careful diet, But I am less and […]
Writing Groups
A former student emailed me recently to recommend an online writing community. Her goal? To get critique on her work. She’d heard horror stories about online writing groups where people stole participants’ work, and she hoped I had some good advice about finding a reputable online writing group. I hadn’t heard about that sort of […]
Vintage Poems-
I was instantly hooked on this one. I love poems that give the readers an instruction – that tell us how. Plus, the imagery is just gorgeous. Enjoy! Inferno, Meet My Bridges By Rebecca Erickson Ice polishes the streets as a man and a woman struggle to meet on a bridge. They slip, hips hit […]
Vintage Poetry -Sixteen and Sixty
I am sucker for love poems about days gone by and creative rhymes, and this poem has both. Enjoy! Sixteen and Sixty By Jim Assid, Sioux Falls The smell of roses in your hair, Is like the trade winds’ balmy air. Your smile so sweet and rosy-cheeked Makes me forget my gray hair streaked. If […]