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Welcome to the website of the Iowa Poetry Association! Through this website and other links, we invite members of IPA and the general public to keep in touch with other poets.

Our mission: The Iowa Poetry Association, Inc. shall promote interest in and appreciation of POETRY through opportunities for education, publication, writing, performance, and contests. We aim to serve Iowans of all ages, incomes, identities, and experience levels.

These opportunities are free (except as indicated) and open to all Iowans. They include, but are not limited to:

• monthly e-newsletter of upcoming events
• IPA LIVE monthly online series of mini-workshops and readings
• quarterly print newsletter (members only)
• annual series of Slam qualifiers and finals in search of Iowa slam champion to compete in the annual BlackBerry Peach national slam championship
• annual Lyrical Iowa Competition with adult and student (K-college undergrad) divisions and contests; winners and high-ranking poems are published in Lyrical Iowa, IPA's annual anthology; winners' reading celebrations; Pushcart Prize nominations are selected from the anthology.
• resources for K-12 teachers including annual teacher panel discussions, lesson plans and suggestions, future outreach to high school poetry students in virtual mini-workshops
• poetry celebrations, performances, workshops: Poetry Palooza! (Apr, Des Moines); Poetry on the Prairie (Nov, Perry); Poetry& pop-up events (Greater Des Moines area)
• bi-annual hybrid writing critiques / workshops in April and October (free to members, modest fee for non-members*)
• low annual membership fees: $8 regular, $15 or more patron
• future plans include outreach through Iowa's public libraries to promote poetry reading opportunities and to connect with poetry communities state-wide.

Who we are: We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) public charity, affiliate of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies and of the Academy of American Poets. We are also a partner organization of the Iowa Student Poet Ambassador program.

• Poetry Palooza presents "Poetry & Film," an interactive evening of spoken word poetry. Three Des Moines-area poets will perform their original spoken word poetry: Jalesha Johnson, Kelsey Bigelow, and Sabur "C?ue" Muhammad. Then, there will be a screening of the poetic short-film "Willing to Grow," by Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey in collaboration with Brucemore Artisan Studio Project. The event closes out with a Q&A from all of the night's poets. Come prepared to explore forgiveness, hurt, and healing. This event is for mature audiences as the content navigates heavy topics. Purchase tickets here.
  
  


• Poetry on the Prairie 2024! in the Towncraft Building, 1122 Willis Ave., Perry, IA, Nov. 9-10, 2024. Join us for a weekend filled with poetic experiences: workshops, readings, open mics and more! Details coming soon!


• Announcing Lyrical Iowa Adult Division Winners! Click here. Congratulations to all of this year's winners! Poems will be posted after release of the anthology, around Oct 1.


• More NEWS here

Honorary Poet Laureate: Lucille Morgan Wilson (1925-2021)

We are honored and thrilled to share that Humanities Iowa is posthumously designating Lucille Morgan Wilson as Honorary Poet Laureate, a first-of-its-kind recognition. Go to Voices from the Prairie (Click Current Issue link, pg 11) to read the Humanities Iowa article and an excerpt of Lucille's poem, "In Any Language," recited each year at the World Food Prize Award.

At Iowa Poetry Association, we are ever grateful to Lucille for her tireless dedication in promoting poetry across Iowa. She served as IPA Treasurer 1975-76, IPA President 1976-1978, then 1988-2016 as IPA Editor-in-chief of our annual Lyrical Iowa anthology and quarterly newsletters. Lucille managed the annual IPA contests, writing thousands of encouraging notes and helpful suggestions to aspiring poets over the years. Lucille was also board member and Treasurer of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, among many other service positions, earning her the Interfaith Service Award by the Des Moines Area Religious Council in 1996 and was the first recipient of the Robert D Ray Iowa SHARES Humanitarian Award recognizing her 30 years with the Des Moines Area Hunger Hike.

Thank you to Humanities Iowa for this distinguished acknowledgement of Lucille's contributions. And thank you to all who sent in testimonials in support of Lucille.

Can you help us find some older back issues of Lyrical Iowa?
We are attempting to archive our complete collection of Lyrical Iowa, but are still missing the following issues: 1946, 1951, 1955, 1956 and 1964. Please let us know if you hear/see of estate sales, libraries, individuals disposing of old issues. Please contact Heather Clark