Hello all, High Plains Writers and the Rapid City Public Library will host a winter poetry reading this year. The Dark of Winter Poet's Gathering will be January 22 at 7 pm at the Rapid City Public Library. Please contact the Reference desk to sign up to participate in this reading.  We have had many requests for a third reading for the year so we hope that there will be much interest in this event.

Poet's Coffeehouse this Friday, November 6...

The Fall Poet's Coffeehouse will be at the Rapid City Public Library Friday, November 6 at 7 pm. Call or stop in to put your name on the list to perform.

We hope to see you there.

In the meantime, the White House has put up videos of a poetry jam held there in May. Check it out here.

Poets Wanted

We had some interesting times at the SD Festival of the Book in Deadwood. I hope that Jason or Guille might write something about it. I plan to write something later.

But what I wanted to get posted, before I forgot, is that we have a date for the Fall Poet's Coffeehouse at the Rapid City Public Library. Come join us on November 6 @ 7 pm. There will be a sign up sheet at the Library before the date. Please sign up and plan to join us.

Poet's Coffeehouse and poetry contest awards videos available online

Sorry this has taken so long. The videos from the poetry reading and poetry contest are up on the Rapid City Public Library's youtube site. See them here. They are all labeled Poet's Coffeehouse 2009. We had another great night of poetry. Enjoy.

Poetry Contest moves forward

Last night, April 15, we held the judging meeting for the 2009 HPW Poetry contest. It took several hours and much beer to finish the judging. When we get down to the end, there is always a long discussion about which poem deserves which place. Since first place does mean a bigger cash prize it makes a difference. I have to say though, that I am never thinking about the money but whether I believe a particular poem really deserves the place that we are discussing. All of the other judges are thinking the same thing because we argue about the merit of the poem. So, yes, I know who won but I'm not talking. If you want to know who won, join us Friday, April 17 at 7 pm at the Rapid City Public library, 610 Quincy, Rapid City. If you want to participate in the reading, contact the library.

We will announce the winners and make the awards at the Poetry reading. After the Poetry reading, the awards and the readings of the winning poems will be available on our youtube channel as well as the Rapid City Public Library's youtube channel. This does not happen overnight. It takes time to edit the video and get it posted. You could always subscribe to one of the two channels and then you will know for sure when the videos are available.

Join us, either in person or online, and start working on your poem for next year's contest.

8th Annual HPW Poetry contest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 6, 2009

Call for Submissions

The High Plains Writers will sponsor a poetry competition this April with cash and prizes totaling $100. The deadline for submissions is 4 pm MDT April 13, 2009.

Submissions may be sent by mail to:
Rapid City Public Library

attn: Jason Walker

610 Quincy St.
Rapid City, SD 57701

Submissions will also be accepted electronically if sent to
jwalker@rcplib.org
.

The work to be considered should be included in the body of the email. Submissions sent as attachments will be considered only if they can be easily opened. It is up to the contestant to determine what can or cannot be easily opened. Submissions that are sent as attachments that do not open, open poorly or contain questionable file extensions will not be considered for the contest.

The requirements of the contest are: Each poet may submit a single poem of 35 lines or less in any style. Any submissions in excess of either rule will not be considered.

Judging will be done by members of the High Plains Writers.

Winners will be announced at the Spring Poets Coffeehouse held at the Rapid City Public Library on Friday, April 17th at 7:00 p.m. The Coffeehouse will feature poetry readings by those who sign up. Poets who wish to read their works should sign up at the Reference Desk at the Rapid City Public Library beginning in April. Winners of the 8th Annual HPW Poetry competition able to attend will be asked to read their winning works. If the writers are not available, the winning poems will be read by members of High Plains Writers.