Tuesday, March 5, 2019

April Poetry Fest

The April Poetry Fest held at the Harold Washington Public Library
in Chicago will be on April 27, 2019, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Besides various workshops and a presentation by the Poet Laureate,
there is a table for selling members' books.

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

February Workshop


I would like to introduce our presenters from ______________ school. Please give them your attention. As an appropriate audience member, you are reminded to be polite and respectful and please don’t interrupt the speaker. If you have questions, please save them until the end. You might have to jot a note down to remember it. At that time, raise your hand and wait to be called on. Now please enjoy learning something new from your SIT 2019 presenters.




Jenene Ravesloot has written five books of poetry. She has published in The Ekphrastic Review, After Hours Press, Sad Girl Review, DuPage Valley Review, the Caravel Literary Arts Journal, Connotation Press: An Online Artifact, Packingtown Review, The Miscreant, Exact Change Only, THIS Literary Magazine, and other online journals, print journals, chapbooks, and anthologies. Jenene is a member of The Poets’ Club of Chicago, the Illinois State Poetry Society, and Poets & Patrons. She has received two Pushcart Prize nominations in 2018. 
Noir, Now: a Workshop Sponsored by Poets & Patrons led byJenene Ravesloot and John O’Connor 
Saturday, February 23, 2019 
1:00-4:00 p.m. 
Harold Washington Library, 400 S State Street, Room 3rd Floor-6N 
In this workshop, we will be evaluating American noir poems, minus the hardboiled detective and the femme fatale of “Roman noir.” This is the noir poem of the down-and- out, whether victim, suspect, or perpetrator who is directly connected to the crime or crimes. This is the noir poem of the “Big City,” plunged into shades of gray rather than black and white. Our poems will present a world of doomed lovers and losers, told in direct, lean, and gritty lines. Here, the powerless struggle with a system that appears to be aligned against them. In this world it would appear no one gets away clean. But perhaps this is the opportunity to create a more hopeful noir poem, one that begins to address the inequities of our present power system. Perhaps this is the time for a new kind of noir poem written by those whose voices are just beginning to be heard. If time permits, each participant will also draft a noir poem. 
Me and Pretty Mary at the bar, Bobby flipping burgers in the back, killing roaches with frozen steaks. Juli walking through the door,
a blue tattooed butterfly fluttering
on one white breast while Matt passes another reefer, puts a quarter in the jukebox, plays “Lush Life.” Then, Jake rolls dice across green cloth. Snake eyes. No drinks all around. 
Jenene Ravesloot 
Would You Like to Lunch with Other Poets? 
Some of the poets gather at Panera, on the Southeast corner of State and Congress, between 11:30 and noon to have lunch or a cup of coffee together before the meeting. You are invited to join us there. 
Optional Workshop Assignment 
Write a noir poem (free verse, prose poem, or any form you choose). 
You may send one poem for critique, preferably a noit poem. If possible, email it to wildamorris@ameritech.net with P & P in the subject line. Otherwise mail your poem to Wilda Morris, 499 Falcon Ridge Way, Bolingbrook IL 60440- 2242. Deadline: received by February 15. 
Fee: The workshop is free if you do not submit a poem. If you submit a poem for critique, there isafeeof $10fornon- members, $5 for members;. If you submit a poem, you must pay the fee even if you do not attend the meeting because the poems are critiqued in advance (leader feedback will be mailed to you if you are unable to attend the meeting). Please pay at the meeting, if you attend. Otherwise, mail your check made out to Poets & Patrons to the treasurer Beth Staas, 1725 35th St. #2101, Oak Brook IL 

60523. Member ship dues of $20 are due at the beginning of the year, and can be also paid at the meeting. E-mail questions to Wilda. If you do not get a reply to an e-mailed poem, call Wilda at 630/739-2983 to be sure your poem was received.

John S. O'Connor is a writer who 
teaches at New Trier High School 
and at Northwestern University. His 
two books on teaching writing are Wordplaygrounds and This Time It's Personal. He has also 
published two books of haiku. His 
poems have appeared in places such as The Cortland Review, Poetry East, and Rhino, and some 
were collected in a recent chapbook called Rooting. 
His essays and reviews have 
appeared in places such as Colorado Review, Harvard Review, and Ploughshares. He has blogged 
for The Poetry Foundation, and he is the creator and host of the 
Schooled: the Podcast. 
If you miss the deadline, email to see if your poem can still be submitted. 
  

Wednesday, September 5, 2018

September Thoughts

My September Thoughts have been posted on the Poets and Patrons website. https://www.poetsandpatrons.net/president/
Linda Wallin

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Contest Submissions Due by Sunday

Be sure to get your poems in the mail by Sunday. Contest deadline is September 1, 2018. If you want to see the rules, go to poetsandpatrons.net.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Poets and Patrons Workshop Saturday

Thinking about writing a love poem? Worried that it might sound more like a greeting card than a message from the heart? Avoid the schmaltz syndrome by signing up for a decidedly unsentimental love poetry workshop with Marilyn Taylor. Her experiments with voice, image and form will have you writing poems that favor "attitude" over platitude-- and and are just about guaranteed to have the recipient swooning. And even if they don't, you'll have learned some valuable techniques for expressing emotion in your poetry more effectively and gracefully than ever before.

Marilyn L. Taylor, former Poet Laureate of the state of Wisconsin (2009 and 2010) and of the city of Milwaukee (2004 and 2005), is the author of six collections of poetry. Her award-winning poems and essays have appeared in many anthologies and journals, including Poetry, The American Scholar, Able Muse, Measure, Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry” column, and the recent Random House anthology titled Villanelles. Marilyn taught poetry and poetics for fifteen years for the Department of English and the Honors College at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She also served for five years as a contributing editor and regular poetry columnist for The Writer magazine, where her “Poet to Poet” column on poetic craft appeared bi-monthly. She is currently a member of the board of directors for the Council for Wisconsin Writers, and sits on the advisory board of Western State Colorado University’s low-residency MFA program. She recently moved from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Madison where she continues to write and teach.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Write! Chicago March 14th

Hello Poets!

     The next Write! Chicago outing of Poets & Patrons is scheduled for Saturday, March 14, at the Ukranian Institute of Modern Art.  We will be viewing  “Convergence: A Poetic Dialogue” which is an exhibition of collaborative works created by twenty pairs of visual artists and poets.  Two of the poets will be giving a reading at 2:00 pm.  Also on display  from the permanent collection is “Abstract Way” featuring art that seeks to break away from the traditional representation of physical objects by exploring form and color.

     We will meet at the Institute when it opens at noon for our tour and afterwards adjourn to Shokolad (Ukranian for chocolate), a bakery cafĂ© down the street, to write and share.

     The Institute is located at 2320 W. Chicago Avenue, west of the Kennedy Expressway, near Western Avenue.  Unfortunately it is not easily accessible by public transportation, but street parking is readily available.  The closest parking lot is several blocks southwest at 4116 N. Artesian, near the intersection of Western and Grand.

     There is no admission charge to the Institute but a donation of $5-10 is suggested.  If you plan to join us, please contact Debby Rohde at debby.rohde@sbcglobal.net.

Caroline Johnson
http://jupiter-caroline.blogspot.com

Sunday, February 1, 2015

February Workshop

Please join us February 28, 2015 when Al DeGenova will lead a workshop on Confessional Poetry. More details will be available soon.