Today’s Zoom link and a note to new subscribers
…Poetry this week, Randy Evans, and the Freedom of Information Council next.
If you are a new subscriber, welcome. This column is called a Potluck, because our readers and guests bring something to the table. And, like a potluck, we’re a tad informal, and some times boisterous. We have opinions, gossip, and try to know what’s going on at all times.
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We are a community, with a wide range of interests. One week we could be talking to someone running for office, or an author discussing his or her new book, or in today’s example, we have a three-person panel of poets who are producing the upcoming Poetry Palooza.
In this column, we stick to the local, Iowa-angle to major news stories, so odds are you won’t find speculation about Kate Middleton and her whereabouts—unless there is someone from Iowa involved.
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Please join us today at noon central time for a conversation about the revival of a significant event in the greater Des Moines area: Poetry Palooza:
Kelsey Bigelow, Diane Glass, and Dawn Terpstra Zoom Link
Thanks to social media, in part, this form of storytelling is gaining in popularity as poetry slams and spoken word performances are earning attention. Reading and writing poetry can be healing, and inspirational.
Today we have three poets joining us to talk about the upcoming event to be held April 19 through 20, at Grandview College, 1200 Grandview Ave.
Diane Glass:
Diane Glass’s diverse career spans teaching, politics, corporate marketing, radio talk show hosting, spiritual direction, writing, and teaching. She served as Vice President of Marketing for the Des Moines Register from 1983 to 2000. Retired, she devotes her time to writing poetry, community volunteering, and teaching storytelling and spiritual growth.
Her book of poetry, The Heart Hungers for Wildness, explores themes related to growing up in small town Iowa, the loss of Iowa farmland, and the experience of aging. In 2002-2003, she and Pat Boddy laid the groundwork for Poetry Palooza, an effort which quickly attracted a group of 11 dedicated volunteers. The Poetry Palooza remained a largely volunteer-driven program with financial support from Humanities Iowa, Polk County Conservation, and numerous individual contributors.
Dawn Terpstra:
Dawn Terpstra is a poet, writer, and beekeeper in Iowa. Her work has been published in 2River, Grist, Midwest Quarterly, Verse Daily, Quartet, Ekphrastic Review, and SWWIM. She is the author of a chapbook, Songs from the Summer Kitchen. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. She is an MFA student at Pacific Lutheran University’s Rainier Writing Workshop. She is the Poetry Editor of River Heron Review. Dawn is currently the president of the Iowa Poetry Association.
Kelsey Bigelow:
Kelsey Bigelow is a poet and speaker based in Des Moines. She will be teaching workshops during the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat, September 22-25.
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 "Far From Broken" (2024), "The Coffee Cherry" (2023), "Depression Holders and Secret Keepers" (2021), and "Sprig of Lilac" (2018). Her work is published with Central Avenue Publishing, Pile Press, Lyrical Iowa, Backchannels Journal, Spirit Lake Review, and elsewhere. Kelsey is a 2024 Pushcart Prize nominee, a 2023 Button Poetry Video Contest Finalist, and a 2023 Central Avenue Poetry Prize shortlist finalist.
She's the founder and leader of the Des Moines Poetry Workshop, the chair for the Iowa Poetry Association Poetry Slam, the co-tournament director for the BlackBerry Peach National Poetry Slam, and more. Here’s who will be with us today.
Next week, Randy Evans, the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council will be joining us. It’s harder than ever to get information that should be available to the public. Why? How is this organization representing the right to know public information?
If one were to make a movie about a classic, legacy newsroom, the casting director would want to call Randy Evans for a script reading for the lead role. He had a long career with the Des Moines Register, before assuming his current role in ‘retirement.’
Subscribers receive a Zoom link on Monday morning.
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Roundup was posted yesterday morning. For an impressive collection of commentary ranging from Jane Burns, who offers a different angle on women’s sports, to several of our writers who commented on the pronounced environmental changes Iowa rivers, and lakes are going through. The Roundup is rapidly becoming a must-read for those who want to be in the know about what’s going on around here.
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