The Poetry of Place Celebration

(print brochure)

Please join the Nebraska Writing Project in a poetry event that celebrates and explores life in Nebraska. The purpose of this program is to encourage Nebraska students to write poetry about their place and to make that poetry more visible. 
Nine to twelve Nebraska student poets will be selected to have their writing published on the Nebraska Writing Project website and participate in public readings at various venues in the state, including a reading on May 4th, 2012 in the Warner Chambers at the State Capitol Building alongside Nebraska Poets Twyla Hansen, and Matt Mason. 

THE PROCESS

All Nebraska students, grade one through twelve, in NSAA classified A, B, C and D schools are eligible to participate.  Each student may submit one poem reflective of that student's place.  Within each school, participating teachers may select the poetry of (up to) four students per grade category (1-5, 6-8, 9-12), a total of 12 per school.  These selected poems will be submitted to the Nebraska Writing Project at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.  Poems will be read by Nebraska poets Twyla Hansen and Matt Mason who will select poems based on quality and their representation of Nebraska place in rural, urban, and suburban settings.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:  (Please designate one contact person per school to submit all materials and to receive notifications; submissions not following guidelines cannot be considered ).

• Send no more than 12 poems per school, 4 per age division.
• Each poem must be titled, without student’s name, and in doc format (not pdf).
• Each poem must be accompanied by a cover letter (doc or pdf).
• Entries and cover letters must be submitted via emailed (as attachments, not embedded)  to:             2012PoetryOfPlace@gmail.com
• Signed parent/guardian permission forms may be submitted via email (scanned) to the above email, OR posted to:
  2012 Poetry of Place
  c/o Robert Brooke
  202 Andrews Hall
  P.O. Box 68588-0333
  
• Contact persons will be notified via email when all materials are received
  
  

SUBMISSION MATERIALS: 

• Permission/release form 
• Student Submission Cover Letter 
  
  

IMPORTANT DATES

March 26th, 2012:  Deadline for submissions. Entries received after this date will not be considered.

April 23rd, 2012:  Notification of representative poets (via mail) and all teachers (via email).

May 4th, 2012: Poetry reading at Nebraska State Capitol with Nebraska poets Twyla Hansen and Matt Mason.

TEACHER RESOURCE MATERIALS:

• Encouraging Student Writing about Place
• Books and Other Resources for Poets and Teachers

CONTACT US:

Robert E. Brooke
Director, Nebraska Writing Project
Department of English
202 Andrews Hall
University of Nebraska-Lincoln 
Lincoln , NE 68588-0333
(402) 472-1807
rbrooke1@unlnotes.unl.edu

Sharon Bishop
Board Member, Nebraska Writing Project
P.O. Box 234
Henderson, NE 68371
(402) 723-4434
bishopsharon11@gmail.com

Jeff Lacey
Ralston High School
7637 Maywood Street
Ralston, NE 68127
402-339-9108
jeff_lacey@ralstonschools.org

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