Highlights From Previous Fall Rendezvous Weekends
2023 - Oct 27-29 at Pokagon State Park in the Potawatomi Inn
Highlights included:
- Thomas Kneeland was our Keynote Speaker. Learn more about Thomas at www.thomaskneelandpoetry.substack.com
- We announced all of 2023 PSI Annual Poetry Contest and PSI Young Voices Annual Poetry Contest results and enjoyed a presentation from our premier poet, Jenny Kalahar.
- Round robin! We love engaging with one another and sharing experiences through poetry.
2022 - Oct 07-09 at Turkey Run State Park Inn
We enjoyed poetry-related workshops, presentations, the announcement of our PSI Annual Poetry Contest categories winners and our PSI Young Voices Annual Poetry Contest winners, and a lot of Round Robin poetry sharing.
Keynote Speaker Presentation by Indiana Poet Laureate Matthew Graham
During his 35 years in southern Indiana, Matthew Graham has been a respected and recognized writer, teacher, and advocate for poetry and the arts. Having recently retired from the University of Southern Indiana (USI), he has taught all levels of creative writing, contemporary literature, and worked with multicultural and international students in freshman composition. Among other community service Graham has worked with diverse writing groups such as high school students and community writing groups.
Matthew Graham is the author of four books of poetry, most recently The Geography of Home (Galileo Press, 2018). His work has earned numerous national, regional and local honors and awards, including a Pushcart Prize, an Academy of American Poets Award, two grants from the Indiana Arts Commission, and the Artist of the Year Award from the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana.
While at USI, Matthew co-founded and co-directed (with Thomas Wilhelmus) The Ropewalk Writers' Retreat, a summer program that brought national and international writers to New Harmony, Indiana for 22 years, and the Ropewalk Visiting Writers Series, which brought prominent fiction and non-fiction writers and poets to the USI campus for free public readings. The list of participating writers includes the present U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo.
During his 35 years in southern Indiana, Matthew Graham has been a respected and recognized writer, teacher, and advocate for poetry and the arts. Having recently retired from the University of Southern Indiana (USI), he has taught all levels of creative writing, contemporary literature, and worked with multicultural and international students in freshman composition. Among other community service Graham has worked with diverse writing groups such as high school students and community writing groups.
Matthew Graham is the author of four books of poetry, most recently The Geography of Home (Galileo Press, 2018). His work has earned numerous national, regional and local honors and awards, including a Pushcart Prize, an Academy of American Poets Award, two grants from the Indiana Arts Commission, and the Artist of the Year Award from the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana.
While at USI, Matthew co-founded and co-directed (with Thomas Wilhelmus) The Ropewalk Writers' Retreat, a summer program that brought national and international writers to New Harmony, Indiana for 22 years, and the Ropewalk Visiting Writers Series, which brought prominent fiction and non-fiction writers and poets to the USI campus for free public readings. The list of participating writers includes the present U.S. Poet Laureate, Joy Harjo.
Guest Presenter Sajjad Jawad
(Saturday 10:00 - 11:15AM)
Sajjad will present on Arabic poetry, Arabic culture, the role of storytelling through poetry, and how we might foster better relationships with peoples from other cultures through poetry. Sajjad's presentation will also include readings of his poetry in both English and Arabic.
PSI Premier Poet Presentation celebrating our outgoing PSI Premier Poet, Sarah E. Morin, and announcing our newly selected Premier Poet.
We announced winners from our PSI Annual Poetry Contest and PSI Young Voices Annual Poetry Contest. We also had a business meeting, presentation on Juliet Strauss, and a round robin.
PSI President John Hinton headed up a Heritage Poetry callout. Anyone attending PSI's 2022 Fall Rendezvous was eligible to share their Heritage poems during the Round Robin session Friday evening. Goal: Writing down our family stories/histories to pass down legacy through poetry.
A note from John:
I would like for everyone to write at least one poem that would be a poem you’d pass down to your family as a keepsake. These poems can be shared during one of our 2022 Fall Rendezvous Round Robin Sessions. As an example, below is a poem my uncle Marion Rhine wrote about his brother. Marion recently passed away at 101 years of age. He was my last living uncle or aunt. I never even knew he wrote poetry until my cousin mentioned it a couple of weeks ago. Now, I’m not judging the quality of the poem ~ this is a poem written by a farmer/factory work writing a tribute to his only brother. Just a common man, expressing his heart in words. It’s an example of telling our stories through poems to pass on; this is what I want to encourage for the Heritage poems that can be shared at Fall Rendezvous. Here’s my uncle’s poem:
I want you to meet my little brother
he is also my big one, because I have no other
we were raised down on the farm
where we work early by the alarm
there was always work to do
for our dad and us too
after several years on the farm
he quit because the dust did him harm
he has three girls and a wife
which brings him joy to his life
he also has some grands to name a few
which altogether would fill a pew
that is the story of my little brother
for now I have no other
(Saturday 10:00 - 11:15AM)
Sajjad will present on Arabic poetry, Arabic culture, the role of storytelling through poetry, and how we might foster better relationships with peoples from other cultures through poetry. Sajjad's presentation will also include readings of his poetry in both English and Arabic.
PSI Premier Poet Presentation celebrating our outgoing PSI Premier Poet, Sarah E. Morin, and announcing our newly selected Premier Poet.
We announced winners from our PSI Annual Poetry Contest and PSI Young Voices Annual Poetry Contest. We also had a business meeting, presentation on Juliet Strauss, and a round robin.
PSI President John Hinton headed up a Heritage Poetry callout. Anyone attending PSI's 2022 Fall Rendezvous was eligible to share their Heritage poems during the Round Robin session Friday evening. Goal: Writing down our family stories/histories to pass down legacy through poetry.
A note from John:
I would like for everyone to write at least one poem that would be a poem you’d pass down to your family as a keepsake. These poems can be shared during one of our 2022 Fall Rendezvous Round Robin Sessions. As an example, below is a poem my uncle Marion Rhine wrote about his brother. Marion recently passed away at 101 years of age. He was my last living uncle or aunt. I never even knew he wrote poetry until my cousin mentioned it a couple of weeks ago. Now, I’m not judging the quality of the poem ~ this is a poem written by a farmer/factory work writing a tribute to his only brother. Just a common man, expressing his heart in words. It’s an example of telling our stories through poems to pass on; this is what I want to encourage for the Heritage poems that can be shared at Fall Rendezvous. Here’s my uncle’s poem:
I want you to meet my little brother
he is also my big one, because I have no other
we were raised down on the farm
where we work early by the alarm
there was always work to do
for our dad and us too
after several years on the farm
he quit because the dust did him harm
he has three girls and a wife
which brings him joy to his life
he also has some grands to name a few
which altogether would fill a pew
that is the story of my little brother
for now I have no other
2021 - Oct [ ] at [ ].
Celebrating 80 years of Poetry Society of Indiana!
We had a great time celebrating poets and poetry at our Rendezvous, which was all in Zoom this year! Costumes were worn, and Round Robin poetry sharing went into the night both Friday and Saturday!
Presentations included:
- PREMIER POET PRESENTATION Off The Page: Where To Put Poetry Besides A Flat Sheet Of Paper by Sarah E. Morin
- KEYNOTE PRESENTATION & WORKSHOP Poetry Reawakened: Myaamia ‘Miami Indian’ Stories and Poetics presented by George Ironstrack
- a brief look at some Japanese poetry forms – offered in two parts presented by Alys Caviness-Gober BlackBerry Peach
- poetry contest history by Joe Cavanaugh;
- video of 2019 BlackBerry Peach awards in Santa Fe, New Mexico
- dramatic Halloween-themed poetry readings by Dennis L. White
- A Brunch of Poets ~ Critique Groups discussion on “how to” start & participate in Critique Groups, led by PSI 1st VP John Hinton
- and we announced the 2021 winners of PSI's Annual Poetry Contest listed in the attached file: psi_2021_annual_contest_winners_list__pdf_.pdf
2020?
2019 - Oct 18-20 at McCormick State Park
Highlights included:
- A presentation by our wonderful outgoing Premiere Poet, Michael Erdelen, and a fond farewell.
- Awards and readings from our 2019 Annual Contest. These will be published in PSI's annual book, Ink to Paper. See Contest page for results.
- An excellent keynote address by George Wolfe, encouraging us to blend science and philosophy into our poetry.
- Nancy Simmonds introduced us to the Golden Shovel poetic form, which will be featured in our Spring Fling Contest.
- A panel of PSI members who have published a book.
- Round robin readings of fine poetry by our members.
- Announcement of our new Premiere Poet, Sarah E. Morin.
- A book swap.
- Time to enjoy nature and write poetry.
2018 - Oct 18-20 at [ ]
| Like, Comment, Share: Your Poetry in a Digital Age |
Download Alys Caviness-Gober and Sarah E. Morin's presentation Like, Comment, Share: Your Poetry in a Digital Age.
Some of the fall-themed Instapoems we created in our workshop:
? - Oct 14- 16 at Spring Mill State Park
2015 - at McCormick's Creek State Park
Highlights: