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• NFSPS Manningham Trust Student Poetry Contest: We are very pleased to announce that from a total of 257 entries from 25 states, 188 in the senior division and 69 in the junior, we have two Iowa students who placed in the junior division: Olivia Parrie from Baxter Middle School in Baxter won 2nd Honorable Mention for her poem "The voice that says 'perfect'" and Delphi Lonsdale from Prairieview School in Waukee won 4th Honorable Mention for her poem "A fall change." Congratulations! They should be very proud of their hard work and accomplishment in this year's national contest!
• 2023-24 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador selected for Outstanding Poetry: Davenport Central High School junior, Lola Nakashima-Brooke receives highest award given to a young writer in Iowa. Read more. Photos of inauguration.
• Poetry Returns to Art on the Prairie November 11-13, 2022!
• IPA Sponsors First Poetry Slam Competition!
• Cedar Rapids Prairie High School Student Johnnie Each was selected to serve as 2022 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador. Read full article.
• Many of you have already received the sad news that our beloved Lucille Morgan Wilson, 95, passed away on Monday June 21st. Among the many other responsibilities in her career and her prodigious volunteer work, Lucille served as IPA Treasurer 1973-76, IPA President 1976-78, and IPA Editor-in-chief 1988-2016. Lucille will be greatly missed. Please feel free to share this information with all who knew her. You may find her obituary here.
• NEW Resources for Teachers, Parents and Students. We have asked teachers to share some ideas for poetry assignments you can use in preparing student submissions.
• For information on Shreya Khullar, the inaugural Iowa Student Poet Ambassador, see Ms. Kullar's bio. You can read her poem "The Hindi Word for Prayer" published in The Rising Phoenix Review. Ms. Khullar participated in our IPA LIVE! program this past July.

President's Message

Celebrate the Poet

Be kind. Be aware. Be brave. - Bryan Borland, author of DIG

As an audience member, I always cheer for acts of bravery. Whether I'm watching a movie and rooting for the unassuming hero/heroine, or reading a novel, using my own shoulder to push with a protagonist past roadblocks, or watching poetry colleagues as they leap their own tall buildings in a single bound. How exciting to watch a poetry friend enter a first slam competition, hear her talk about an out-of-state poetry retreat she just attended, how he wrote a poem every day and shared it, or how open mics finally made her feel comfortable sharing work! Writers' and poets' lives are rich with opportunities to celebrate accomplishments-those of others as well as our own. (You are not violating the rules of Iowa nice if you celebrate your own achievements.)

In my first President's column this year I encouraged poets to release their metaphoric souls to explorations of their poetic lives: "If we think of the new year as an occasion for a new perspective on well-loved spaces, perhaps 2023 will bring light to the windows, illuminate a brightness, color and warmth overlooked in the past." What did 2023 bring to your work as a poet? More than likely, you've already been sharing that newness in your work. But stop for a moment and reflect. What progress did you make toward your goals? Make it real-write it down. Make a list of what you wanted to accomplish. Beside it, make a column of what you did accomplish. What items made both lists? (Be kind about those items not accomplished. Let them go or move them forward another time.) Next to the accomplished list, make a column labeled Bonus. What were those life events or unexpected circumstances that sent you down a surprising path? How did gifts from the Bonus column make your poet's world brighter, warmer, more authentically you? Next, how will you celebrate? Maybe frame the list or a poem or a photo that captures the happiest moment(s).

Ready yourself for what's next. Bring bravery into the conversation with your poetic self. How will you take your writing life where it wants to go? Maybe your poetry self is happy where it's at. But if you feel like you gained momentum in the past year,, here are some things you might do to jumpstart surprise in your writing:

• Scour the internet for online classes. Sign up for something unexpected, like a workshop on humor in poetry. As I personally took such a class, I can attest how writing beyond your typical style takes you to a new place.
• Take a class in memoir writing. Writing in a different genre (prose) can take you to a new emotional place, especially if the focus is on writing about your past. Use these breakthroughs when you return to poetry.
• Focus on the magic of revision. Have you selected the right form for the content of your work? What happens if this poem you like becomes a haibun, a pantoum, or a sonnet written in couplets? Or maybe it will become a section in a longer series poem. Don't rush revision. Some poems shape shift many times before settling on a final form.
• Try prompts (written and ekphrastic) and generative workshops and/or books. The poetry world is full of these resources.
• Stimulate your creative brain before writing. Take a walk outside. Listen to music. Read poetry. Listen to a recording of a poet reading their own work. Be aware, be open.

In the coming months the Iowa Poetry Association provides you with opportunities to share your work and further your 2024 goals. Submissions for the 2024 Lyrical Iowa will be open Jan. 1-Feb. 28. Learn more about Lyrical Iowa guidelines and contests at iowapoetry.com. Maybe enter contests you've not entered before. Also beginning in January, IPA will host six qualifying poetry slams to determine an Iowa slam champion to represent IPA at the BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam in Georgia this summer. Entering a slam may be your brave moment. Are you looking for a critique of your work? The IPA Spring Hybrid Workshop takes place from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. on Sat., April 27 at Grand View University. See the IPA events page for more information. Get out your calendar and note this event-Poetry Palooza, April 19-20 at Grand View University in Des Moines. Learn from speakers and workshops plus cheer on poetry slam qualifiers in IPA's Slam Final Stage. Poetry Palooza's Featured Poets include Camille T. Dungy, Traci Brimhall, Jennifer L. Knox, Debra Marquart and Paul Brooke. This event is free to the public.

A round of applause for each of you as you wrap up your 2023 poetry accomplishment lists and plan where you want to take your poetry in 2024. Let's get ready to throw some confetti!

Sincerely,
Dawn Terpstra

January 2024

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