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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Writing in Form: The Paradelle
At the end of semester when I was studying poetry forms, we played with some newer experimental forms. I was assigned the Paradelle, which was invented by Billy Collins in 1996. In his own words, Collins asserts “I invented the form (parody + villanelle = paradelle) in order to produce a very badly written one. […]
Finding Material to Write
I think all good poetry is written from emotion. Either something happens that touches us in our everyday walk of life, or we are moved by the special events that mark how we give meaning to ourselves and our world at large. This emotional response is not something that any of us can fake. Its […]
Neighbors
One of the many stories my dad told me about growing up in a farm community in Roanoke, Illinois, was how helpful the people were when catastrophe struck. Everybody pitches in to keep their neighbor afloat. As every farmer knows, when it rains on a field of harvested but unbaled wheat, the whole crop is […]
Revelation
A timely, beautiful poem with a beautiful message. Enjoy! Revelation by Marilyn Kratz The winds of fall have swept away brown leaves from old elm trees And now reveal what summer’s green had hidden from my gaze. Abandoned nests, their builders flown, stand out in stark relief, Mute evidence of secret toil that filled the […]
Poems, part 2
Here are some more poems that were read at our recent poetry reading. Enjoy! Sidewalk Impressionist -From Fall 2016 Pasque Petals by Brooklyn Gross Kids stampede over my slender fingers, But they don’t break my bones. Bicyclists roll over my palms, Their tires leaving no imprint on my skin. My invisible hands lie on the […]
Poems
SDSPS is in the process of getting more poetry up on our site, and I thought that it would be fun to feature poetry that was shared at our recent reading for the next two blog posts. So, here are three poems from SDSPS publications that were read at the reading: All a-winter-ling -From Pasque […]