Coming to you Live in 2025
Thank you for the overwhelming positive response to IPA LIVE. IPA LIVE programs will be aired monthly on Zoom on the second Wednesday(with some exceptions on Tuesdays, as necessary). Programs will be scheduled for 90 minutes, airing from 7-8:30 pm. When possible, programs will be recorded and available to members.
Upcoming IPA Live events
Check back for more programming to be added soon!
March 10
7 p.m.
Poetry Palooza preview with Pat Boddy, Diane Glass, and Palooza featured poet Jane Wong.
June 11
7 p.m.
Lyrical Iowa Student Reading Celebration! Hear student poets read their winning poems from the 2025 Lyrical Iowa Competition. We also meet the 2025-26 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador, Daniel Umemezie!
July 9
7 p.m.
Generative workshop with Deb Marquart and Open mic
August 13
7 p.m.
Teresa Lawler, IPA Teacher Liaison, hosts the following three educators as they share their best practices: Ann C Coombs, St Albert Schools, Council Bluffs; Joy Drake, Chariton HS; Haley Moehlis, Valley HS, West Des Moines. Although the audience is targeted towards teachers, their expertise is relevant for all poets.
Sept. 17
7 p.m.
Dawn Terpstra, IPA President invites you to travel down rivers, across cobblestones, through woodlands, and across meadows, as you create your own poetry of place. Immerse your writerly imagination in new places and discover new poems waiting to be written. Share inspired fragments, new work, or share anything you’ve been working on.
Oct. 8
7 p.m.
The annual Lyrical Iowa Reading Celebration for the Adult Division contest winners and Pushcart Prize Nominees. Also joining us are Matt Mason, past Nebraska Poet Laureate and IPA Humorous Verse judge, and Robbin Farr, Editor of River Heron Review and IPA National/World Events judge. Matt and Robbin share some insights about judging and read from their work. The evening is hosted by Editor Marilyn Baszczynski.
Nov. 12
7 p.m.
Robbin Farr, Editor of River Heron Review and IPA National/World Events judge, will lead a generative and craft workshop from a new project,”10 Poetry Notebooks,” a Substack weekly. Generate a new poem based on an evocative image and guided prompt. She’ll touch upon craft hints along the way and put them into practice. Let Robbin steer you through options: constraints, forms, and details, to discover and create your unique vision.
Past IPA Live events
2024
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January 10, 2024: Kelsey Bigelow, "Uncovering your poem" workshop
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March 13: Poetry Palooza! organizers share upcoming activites!
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April 9: Iowa's Poet Laureate Vince Gotera and Iowa Student Poet Ambassador Lola Nakashima-Brooke
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May 8: Kelly Madigan and Karen Gettert Shoemaker from Larksong Writers Place
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June 12: Student Reading Celebration!
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July 10: Generative writing workshop with Dawn Terpstra
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August 14: Annual Teachers Panel hosted by Teresa Lawler
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September 11: Ana McCracken on the Ames Writers Collective
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October 8: Lyrical Iowa 2023 winners, Pushcart nominees; judges Vince Gotera, Christine Stewart-Nunez and Michael Dylan Welch
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November 12: Steve Rose, "Revision, getting inside your readers' head" workshop
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December 11: Open Mic session of December/winter/holiday poems
2023
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January 11, 2023: New Year's Poetry Resolutions: Education, Submissions, Creating a Chapbook or Collection
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February 8: Generative workshop and poems of compassion with James Crews
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March 8: Learn more about Poetry Palooza!
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April 12: Iowa's Poet Laureate Deb Marquart and Iowa Student Poet Ambassador Johnnie Each
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May 10: Poetry of Spring & Summer Reading
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June 14: Student Reading Celebration!
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July 11: William Bortz on experiences with the submission and publication process. Hosted by Kelsey Bigelow.
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August 9: Annual Teachers Panel hosted by Allison Berryhill
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September 13: Open mic Poetry of landscapes-place, regions, interiors, self, past, future
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October 12: Lyrical Iowa 2023 winners, Pushcart nominees; meet new judges, Michael Dylan Welch and Vince Gotera
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November 8: Haiku Targets workshop with Michael Dylan Welch
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December 14: Open mic Poems for celebration and holidays
2022
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January 12, 2022: Ekphrastic Writing and History Enthusiasts - Grant Wood Writers Forum and IPA Collaborate!
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February 9: Online Reading: Poems with Love
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March 9: Honing the Craft: Titles, Endings, Line Breaks and Craft Resources
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April 13: Catching Up with Iowa Poets
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April 27: Online Reading in Honor of National Poetry Day
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May 11: Ecopoetry and Nature Poetry
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June 8: Teacher Panel
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July 13: Online Reading: Lyrical Iowa Student Winners and Iowa Student Poet Ambassador
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August 24: Summer Reading
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September 14:re-scheduled
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October 12: Lyrical Iowa and the 2023 Iowa Poetry Contest
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November 9: What's up? A plethora of live poetry events!
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December 14: Reading: Poems in Celebration and Grant Wood Forum
When and How to Join In to Listen
Reserve the second Wednesday of the month from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. Login information will be distributed to those who RSVP in advance to ipa@iowapoetry.com. In the subject line please write RSVP WORKSHOP for mini-workshop events, RSVP READINGS to listen to the readings. Login information will be emailed prior to each event.
How to Sign Up to Read
IPA LIVE! also features the voices of IPA poets. Members will have an opportunity to share their poetry during a series of online topical readings (see the schedule below). Poets who would like to read on the monthly topic should sign up by email at ipa@iowapoetry.com. In the subject line write POETRY READING and indicate in the body of the email the topic. Plan on sharing 3-5 poems (depending on length). We would like to hear from 6-8 poets per session. Sign-up is first come, first served, unless a poet has not yet read during the year; we would like to hear from as many Iowa poets as possible. See the calendar for reading topics below.
Email and Facebook Reminders
Monthly reminders will be emailed to IPA members who have email addresses. If you would like to make sure you're on the email list or to update your information, please email ipa@iowapoetry.com. Please join and check the Iowa Poetry Association Facebook page for reminders about upcoming monthly workshops and reading topics.
If you have questions, please email Dawn Terpstra at dterp@me.com, or call 641-521-1837.