About Us

Lisa Morlock lives with her family in Johnston. With a BA in English and MS in educational administration, she works for Iowa STEM. Besides reading and writing, Lisa enjoys being outdoors and working out. She loves all types of poetry, especially those that bridge nature and the human condition.

Dawn Terpstra is a Pushcart nominated poet, writer, and hobbyist beekeeper, who lives along a quiet gravel road in rural Iowa. She enjoys finding topics, speakers, and connections with IPA members as she schedules and hosts IPA LIVE! Her poetry appears in current and forthcoming publications including Verse Daily, Plainsongs, Briar Cliff Review, Midwest Review, The North Dakota Quarterly, Quartet, Ekphrastic Review, Halfway Down the Stairs, SWWIM, and Lyrical Iowa. She is the author of a chapbook, Songs from the Summer Kitchen from Finishing Line Press. Dawn is working on her MFA in Creative Writing at Pacific Lutheran University's Rainer Writing Workshop. To learn more, visit www.dawnterpstra.com.

Angela Evans lives in Ankeny with her husband, Randy. They
go on daily walks which inspires her poetry. She is a breast cancer survivor, avid reader and seasoned social worker. She makes handmade cards and altered books. She is a longtime member of IPA, attempts to enter Instagram Poetry Potluck each month and has been  involved with the Grant Wood Country Forum for the past several years.

Now retired from working after a varied life that included twelve years as a movie theatre manager in three different Iowa towns and twenty five years making corrugated boxes for a local company in Burlington, Rod is involved in church life at Zion United Church of Christ in Burlington where he has served on the council several times and currently is an elder. In addition to The Society of Great River Poets (SGRP) and IPA, he works with the Des Moines County Historical Society, the Players Workshop community theater, Burlington Art Center and the Des Moines County Genealogical Society. As current 1st vice-president of IPA, Rod hopes to encourage development of more local writing groups around the state so more poets can find the encouragement he has with SGRP.

Pat Boddy's poetry often foregrounds the need for conservation policy and climate justice. In retirement, Pat hiked the Dark Divide of the Cascade Mountains as writer-in-residence with Portland-based Signal Fire. She has a passion for the transformative power of poetry, enjoys reading her work aloud and even more so hearing and reading the work of others. Along with Diane Glass and other supportive friends, she hosted a new poetry group's inaugural pop-up event: Poetry & Pie in the Park. She's a professional engineer, former deputy and interim director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, past director of Polk County Conservation, Sr. Partner Emeritus of RDG Planning & Design and in an earlier life, an award-winning broadcast journalist. Pat holds a B.J. (Journalism) from the University of MO-Columbia and B.S. and M.S. degrees in engineering and water resources from ISU. She is one of the many founders of Poetry&, a non-profit dedicated to nurturing community, creativity and healing through poetry.

Diane Glass is a poet, teacher, storyteller, and community volunteer. Her book of poetry, The Heart Hungers for Wildness, draws from her life experience and her work as a spiritual director in paying attention to and celebrating what truly matters and endures. Her career history includes serving as Vice President of Marketing for the Des Moines Register, teaching at the Mind & Spirit Counseling Center, (formerly the Des Moines Pastoral Counseling Center), and founding Tending Your Inner Garden for women. She lives in Des Moines with her husband Jeff Means and cat Penny.

Kelsey Bigelow is a poet and speaker based in Des Moines. She spends her time working as a mental health poet sharing this therapeutic tool with audiences of all ages across the world. She is the author of four poetry projects, including her latest book "Far From Broken." Her work is published with several small presses and journals. Kelsey is a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2023 Button Poetry Video Contest Finalist, and a 2023 Central Avenue Poetry Prize finalist. As a performer, Kelsey has worked with organizations such as The Mayo Clinic, NAMI, Planned Parenthood, and more. Videos of her work can be found on Button Poetry, Write About Now, Ghost Poetry Show, and elsewhere. ​She's the founder of the Des Moines Poetry Workshop, the chair for the Iowa Poetry Association Poetry Slam, a teaching artist in the Des Moines community, a director for the BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam, and a founding member of the 2025 io-what poetry slam team.

Kelli Lage is an assistant poetry editor Bracken Magazine and Best of the Net and Pushcart nominated poet. She is the author of Early Cuts and I'm Glad We Did This, with two collections forthcoming. Lage's work has appeared in Stanchion Zine, Maudlin House, The Lumiere Review, Welter Journal, and elsewhere. Website: www.kellilage.com.

Teresa Lawler taught high school language arts for thirty-six years in Carroll, Melcher-Dallas, Jefferson-Scranton, Ankeny, and Ankeny Centennial. After retiring from Centennial in 2022, Teresa became an adjunct professor for Iowa Central and Iowa Western. She is also the individual speech coach for Glenwood since she simply could not stop coaching with the Iowa High School Speech Association. In her spare time, you can find Teresa listening to U2, traveling to places where U2 is performing, and hanging out with her family, especially her two grandchildren, Brody and Brynn.