Poetic Strokes/Word Flow
1) Foster an interest in the writing of the poetry medium, 2) collect and publish high quality works produced by adult and teen poets who reside in southeast Minnesota, 3) provide a copy of publication to libraries, participants, and legislators to help spread the word about the project. 4) provide a capstone project by which to bring together local poets to showcase their works. We will measure our success by surveying participants after the publication has been disseminated as well as after the capstone event has taken place.
During the open call, 286 poems were submitted by 219 unique poets from 40 communities, representing all 11 SELCO counties. The age range of those submitting works was from 14-93. The Poetic Strokes and Word Flow judging panels selected a total of 55 poems by 52 poets from 15 communities in eight of the 11 SELCO counties. Those selected fell in the age range of 14-81 make the final product a truly multi-generational work.
SELCO surveyed all participants in the competition about some of the logistics surrounding the competition, the impact on both reading and writing poetry, personal impact, the overall quality, media coverage, and suggestions for improvement. Here is a sampling of comments regarding the competition:
• “My students liked being published and the assignment is one that is effective to get them to work to a higher level. I also like supporting a local contest rather than those that are farther away…”
• “Reaffirmed that I can write publishable poetry, which encourages me to continue submitting to competitions. Also reaffirmed that poetry is valued in southeastern Minnesota.”
• “Keep up the good work. You are making a significant contribution to this part of Minnesota.”
• “This is a really great option for creative art. It was fun."
The Poetry Bash allowed an opportunity for poets to mix and mingle, hear professional poet Todd Boss read his works and speak, and also the chance for those poets included in the anthology to read their own work from the book if they wished. We had 65+ attendees on the night and had nine of the published poets read their works aloud. Questions included parts they enjoyed and/or could’ve done without, and suggestions for the future. A sampling of comments included the following:
• “I loved hearing other people’s poetry and receiving encouragement from other writers.”
• “This was my first poetry event. I had a great time. Thank you!”
• “I hope that it grows over the years. It would be fun to listen to more of the poets. I especially liked the youth poets.”
Albert Lea Public Library, Austin Public Library, Blooming Prairie Public Library, Brownsdale Public Library, Caledonia Public Library, Cannon Falls Library, Chatfield Public Library, Dodge Center Public Library, Faribault: Buckham Memorial Library, Grand