Poets and Patrons

Supporting Poetry in Chicagoland for 52 Years!

About

Workshops

Contests

Workshops

Each year, Poets & Patrons hosts four workshops, led by established poets, patrons, editors, and teachers from Illinois and surrounding states. The workshops are designed to increase skill in writing both traditional and non-traditional poetry. The next workshop will be held on August 28, 2010 at 1:00 P.M. in room 6-N on the third floor of the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State Street. Workshop participants are invited to join us for an optional lunch before each workshop in order to enjoy each other's company and talk about poetry generally. Participants meet at the Panera at 501 State Street, Chicago, Illinois.

Suggested assignments are given in advance of the workshop date to allow members the opportunity and guidance to develop skills in a broad range of poetic styles. The resulting poems are then presented to workshop leaders while withholding members' names so as to ensure careful, objective analysis of the work. Two separate judges are asked to independently read and comment upon each poem, allowing for greater objectivity; this helps ensure that no one school of criticism prevails. Following the session, members may pick up their work, written with comments emphasizing their unique strengths and weaknesses. The atmosphere is relaxed and conducive to the growth of the poetic craft. A $10 fee at time of registration covers the cost of workshop and critique, but not the optional lunch beforehand.

Members of Poets & Patrons who have published books are invited to display them for sale at any of our workshops and/or at the Awards banquet.

Chicagoland Poetry Contest & Awards Banquet

The Chicagoland Poetry Contest is one of the longest-running literary traditions in Chicago. This competition allows both members, and non-members to compete in various categories. First, second, and third place contest winners, along with honorable mention winners in each category are invited to attend the awards banquet, where they receive their prizes and have their poems read by accomplished members of the Chicago poetry community. A $10.00 entry fee is required of all entrants. Poetry editors and teachers from across the nation are selected each year to judge all entrants anonymously.

Turquoise columns along a sidewalk in Chicago.

The Helen Schaible Contest

The 2004 Chicagoland Poetry Contest Award Winners

The 2005 Chicagoland Poetry Contest Award Winners

The 2006 Chicagoland Poetry Contest Award Winners

The 2007 Chicagoland Poetry Contest Award Winners

The 2008 Chicagoland Poetry Contest Award Winners

The 2009 Chicagoland Poetry Contest Award Winners

Book Publications by Members

We are pleased to provide a partial listing of book publications by our Members. We have also tried to indicate which books are still available and where you can obtain a copy. We hope to continually expand and promote this list as Members contact us with additional information. Click on the above link to learn more.

Membership

Our members are a diverse group, comprised of writers from widely varying backgrounds and ages. What unites them is a deep appreciation for poetry. In order to facilitate an open and non-exclusive environment, we keep our membership fees at a very reasonable level.

Membership entitles poets to hone their skills through interaction with like-minded people in both formal and informal sessions, including four workshops per year, notice of the annual Chicagoland Poetry Contest, and invitation to the annual Awards Banquet.

For further information, please contact us by sending a request for Membership to Beth Staas, Beth@staas.com.

A Brief History

Poets & Patrons evolved from common desire to promote a meeting ground for poets and poet enthusiasts in the Chicago area. The Midwest Writers Conference previously filled the need with meetings and contests, but folded in the mid 1940s. Another poetry group, Poets Club of Chicago, was founded in 1936 by a group of high school teachers. Admission to Poets Club was by invitation and submission of poets' work. Members paid modest fees, held workshops and discussion sessions and shared a mutual love of poetry. At one point, Poets Club president Isabelle Gillespie Young, proposed a new club that would be open to all.

By 1954, Poets & Patrons was established. It was set up as a non-profit outreach group for poets who wished to receive professional criticism, with four workshops a year held on the fourth Saturday in February, April, June and August. In 1956, Poets & Patrons created a Chicagoland Poetry Contest, open to all in the area. At one point there were 22 categories with awards and cash prizes.

Finding suitable meeting places was always a challenge for the group - libraries, a bank, the Cultural Center, Carson, Pirie, Scott - were discovered. Among the early meeting rooms was an unforgettable one offered by one of the group’s founders, Anne Nolan. In the early 1950s, she offered space in the inner offices of her family's business, the Nolan Boiler and Tank Service. Members dubbed the group the Poetry Forge and Anne was the registered agent for 31 years. She was a highly skilled poet, as were her husband Clifford and her three sons. Her death in October 2006 greatly saddened Poets & Patrons members.

Sincere thanks and gratitude go to all members who have helped the group survive and flourish since 1954. The Court of awards held in 2006 marked the 50^th celebration of The Chicagoland Poetry Contest. This event has become so important to this area’s finest poets.

Officers and board members are listed below: