Center for Creative Solutions, Inc.® Announces Northwest Indiana’s Poetry Showcase for World Creativity and Innovation Week
Northwest Indiana poets, April is your time to shine! Throughout the month, the Center for Creative Solutions will celebrate both World Creativity & Innovation Week, April 15-21, and National Poetry Month.
All poets residing in La Porte, Porter, Lake, Starke, Jasper, Newton and Pulaski Counties are invited to share their work in the 9th annual “Juried Showcase of Poetry.” Indiana University professor, writer and poetry contest judge, Dr. William Allegrezza, is back again to share his expertise.
For students K-12, the Center for Creative Solutions will bestow 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place honors at each grade level, according to Ester, chair of the Poetry Showcase. Poems submitted by adults will be judged separately and have specific guidelines, which can be found at https://www.centerforcreativesolutions.com/poetry-showcase.
This year, the Center for Creative Solutions is launching a new honor, the Northwest Indiana Youth Poet Laureate. Also, a Northwest Indiana Poet Laureate will be named to the first-place winner in the adult division. Both designations will be for one year.
“Make your poem humorous or thoughtful, fantastical or serious. Submit more than one poem if you would like. Don’t forget, songwriters, your lyrics are poetry as well. Challenge and surprise yourself. Please consider creating and sharing your words with us,” noted Ester.
Poems can be of any length or form- narrative, dramatic, or lyrical and from haiku to epic. Student poets may write their poems on any topic that inspire them, or use the topics located on the Center’s website.
Winning student and adult poets will read their poems at a special “Afternoon of Poetry”on Sunday, April 27, 1:00 p.m., location to be announced. Top poems will be published in major publications throughout Northwest Indiana, including The Beacher.
Poems must be submitted by midnight Friday, March 28, 2025, online at https://www.CenterforCreativeSolutions.com/poetry-showcase. When submitting poems, students should include their full name, school, teacher’s name, and grade level, county they live in, and age (this information will not be shared with the judges). Winners will be notified on or before April 12, 2025.
Questions can be directed to Ester at thenestmichigancity@gmail.com.
On April 16, another poetry reading, Womens’ Voices in Poetry, will occur at the Michigan City Public Library. Sponsored by Michigan City’s Sinai Temple, regional women poets will be featured.
With more details to follow, this standing-room only event of last year is being brought back because of large public interest, noted Judy Jacobi, convenor. A light supper will proceed the program, she said.
Community partners for World Creativity & Innovation Week include the Society of Innovators at Purdue Northwest Indiana, Sinai Temple, Westville Public Library, Art on the Air, and WIMS Radio. The week’s celebration is made possible in part by the Bethany Church Foundation of La Porte, and the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
For more information, go to the CenterforCreativeSolutions.