Schedule of Events

A Celebration of Words

Schedule of Events
Highland Park, Illinois

All poets are welcome to participate -
having 60035 as your zip code
is not a requirement

David Dotson, Photographer

Call for Submissions

Weather the Weather

Poets & Artists Respond

For Display in City Hall

DEADLINE - November 27

“Whether the weather be cold or whether the weather be hot, we’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not.” This tongue twister cleverly captures that no matter where on the planet we live, we are all subject to the weather. From drought to flooding, hurricanes to blizzards - all of us are experiencing increasingly severe or extreme weather patterns, global climate change, and traumatic events. We are bombarded with weather alerts, images, suffering and beauty, along with waves of information on our phones, computers and television. Weather phenomenon may also be a metaphor for the storms of culture, politics, personal relationships and the individual psyche.

Guest curators, Visual Artist, Catherine Schwalbe and Poet, Jennifer Dotson invite your response to the theme of Weather. Schwalbe, is a practicing artist, curator, and educator. Dotson, is a published poet and founder of Highland Park Poetry (2018 Mayor's Award for the Arts). Both women have collaborated, exhibited, and created thought provoking exhibitions for over two decades!

Download the Call for Submissions for all the details. Questions and submissions should be directed to Zoe Carlson with The Art Center of Highland Park - zcarlson@theartcenterhp.org.

Click icon to download Call for Submissions

HP150 Persona Poetry Project

2019 marks the City of Highland Park’s Sesquicentennial or 150^th Anniversary of incorporation. Highland Park Poetry & East on Central are collaborating to create an evening of poetry celebrating the community’s history through personal portraits across the years from years. Time period may extend beyond the 150 years of Highland Park’s incorporation to include Native, early explorer, pioneer and settler perspectives. Music performance and visual arts may also be incorporated. Thus, we seek submissions of 15 - 20 persona poems from local poets.

Participating poets are asked to submit a preliminary statement of intent. This will help organizers anticipate gaps in the history. Send email to jennifer@highlandparkpoetry.org indicating the following – what event or person you plan to write about including approximate year or decade.

What is the timeline for this project?

January 15, 2019 – Deadline for Poem Submissions – This will allow for selection of final poems and shaping work into a dramatic presentation to be performed by ARTicuLIT Readers Theatre. Selected poets will be notified on or before March 1st.
APRIL 2019 – Selected poems to be published on the Muses’ Gallery at www.HighlandParkPoetry.org. Performance in April TBD.

Download the project flyer. If you have questions, please email jennifer@highlandparkpoetry.org.

Click icon to download Contest Flyer

Carol L. Gloor / C.J. Wilkens Reading & Poetry Open-Mic
Saturday, November 17
7:00 p.m.
Coffee Speaks
@ Port Clinton Square

610 Central Avenue, Suite 155

Join us for a delightful evening of readings from two poets - Carol L. Gloor & C.J. Wilkens. Poetry open-mic to follow.

Carol L. Gloor practiced law and wrote poetry for 35 years. Now she carries protest signs and manages to get some of her poetry published from time to time. Her poetry appears most recently in Midwest Writer's Center Writer's Block online journal, and in the online journal Postcard Poems and Prose. She has work upcoming in the anthology Feminine Rising. Her chapbook, Assisted Living, was published in 2013 by Finishing Line Press, and her full length collection, Falling Back, was just published by the WordPoetry division of WordTechLLC in 2018.

C.J. Wilkens is a local poet and author from the Chicagoland area. She enjoys writing poetry as a celebration of life and considers it a form of art, expression and therapy for the soul. Her book Aquamarine Souls Whispers (Orange Hat Publishing) just came out this July 2018. Her poems have also been published in local journals. C.J. is a coffee fanatic, a nature lover and is known to hike and bike throughout Lake County. Her hometown is in the heart of the Midwest and she loves small town America and the simpler things in life. She is also ridiculously in love with her adopted dog Quincy.

An open mic immediately follows. Poets may bring up to 3 poems to share. Everyone is welcome to experience the word magic and the delicious teas and treats available at Coffee Speaks.

There is no cover charge; however, all attendees are expected to purchase an item from Coffee Speaks.

Carol L. Gloor

C. J. Wilkens

2019 Winter Muses' Gallery

Theme: Poet's Choice

Deadline

December 27, 2019, 11:59 PM

Highland Park Poetry is now accepting submissions of poetry and artwork for the 2019 Winter Muses' Gallery on our website. It's Poet's (and Artist's) Choice - no themes, subjects or forms. All submissions should be sent via email to jennifer@highlandparkpoetry.org; put "Muses' Gallery Submission" in subject line.

POEMS - 30 lines is max length limit and shorter work preferred; previously published okay with acknowledgment. Send as text in the body of an email or as a .doc attachment; no more than 5 poems for consideration.

ART/PHOTOGRAPHY - send images as .jpg files.

Joanie Tooley, Photographer

2019 Poetry Challenge

Deadline - Monday, January 28, 2019

Poets are challenged to write in response to one of the prompts:

Chemistry (in honor of 150th anniversary of Dmitry Mendeleev's Periodic Table of Chemical Elements)
Oz (in honor of 100th anniversary of author L. Frank Baum's death and 50th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz film release)
Tricube (a simple poetic form by Phillip Larrea comprised of 3 syllables per line / 3 lines per stanza / 3 stanzas per poem)

Download form for submission guidelines, entry form and Tricube instructions. Questions? Contact jennifer@highlandparkpoetry.org.

Click icon to download Challenge guidelines and entry form

Poetry Today - Past Episodes

July 2018 - William Carey & Mary Beth Bretzlauf discuss Coffee, Tea & Other Beverages in 2018 Summer Muses' Gallery

June 2018 - Wilda W. Morris

May 2018 - Oliver Mansfield & Constance Vitale

March 2018 - Dr. Shai Har El

February 2018 - Cynthia Gallaher

January 2018 - Faisal Mohyuddin

December 2017 - Arlyn Miller, Poetic License, Inc

October 2017 - Public Art Poetry with Marjorie Rissman & Kerry Leaf

September 2017 - Naoko Fujimoto

August 2017 - Donna Vorreyer

July 2017 - Bakul Banerjee

June 2017 - Curt Vevang

May 2017 - William Marr

April 2017 - HPHS Focus on the Arts

March 2017 - TRAVEL Poetry on Poetry Today!

November 2016 - Jacqueline Harris on Poetry Today!

October 2016 - Lennart Lundh on Poetry Today!

September 2016 - Al DeGenova on Poetry Today!

Technical difficulties during taping of this episode leave the screen blank for about three minutes; however, have faith - the audio continues just fine and the interview goes on.