April Is Poetry Month 2025
Keeping poetry local in Waupaca!
Proud to co-sponsor these events with:
“No Rhyme or Reason” Poetry Contest
2025 Poetry Contest
Join us for our “No Rhyme or Reason” poetry contest. We invite you to write a poem and be a part of Poetry Month with us. Any length or style of poem will be accepted. One poem per poet. Submissions will be accepted March 1 - April 4.
Winners will be selected and notified by April 14.
The WCAB Poetry Committee will select a first and second place contest winner, who will each receive a gift card and be offered the opportunity to read their poetry at the Open Mic Night Poetry Reading, April 23, at the Waupaca Public Library.
Submissions accepted online or drop off at the Waupaca Public Library, marked — Attn: Laura Jandecek.
Poetry Reading
Poetry Read & Open Mic Night
April 23
6 - 8:30 p.m.
Waupaca Public Library — Downstairs Meeting Room
Free
An evening of poetry! Enjoy hearing works from our featured poet of April is Poetry Month, Paul Wiegel. UWSP “Rising Voices” poetry club will present poetry the students have written in Assistant Professor Freesia McKee’s eco-poetry class at UWSP. Our poetry contest winners will also be invited to read their winning poem and other pieces of poetry.
Throw your name in a hat, to have the opportunity to read your own original poetry aloud. Refreshments will be provided. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to read at the Open Mic Night-poetry edition!
UWSP Poetry Club: “Rising Voices”
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point students will present poetry they have written in Assistant Professor Freesia McKee’s eco-poetry class. These students have been working since January on poetry at the intersections of culture, social justice, and the environment.
April is Poetry Month— Featured Poet
—Paul Wiegel
Paul Wiegel spends his days working with language. He teaches, writes for his local, small-town newspaper, is in year four of slowly drafting a young adult novel, and works with poetry in a variety of ways. He is a regional coordinator for Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation competition for high school students sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wisconsin Arts Board.
Working with words is part of what he enjoys doing each and every day--evaluating writing, thinking about poems, answering emails, and making sure the words he chooses in all situations are spot-on. Depending on the day, his enjoyment of each of all these things can vary greatly.
Fun at Waupaca Public Library throughout Poetry Month
Poet Tree
A poet tree is a symbolic representation of creativity and expression, where each branch of the tree is akin to a verse, and its roots delve deep into the fertile soil of imagination.
The library will have colorful leaves for you to leave a poem on the Poet Tree! As the leaves will eventually return to the trees come spring, help us fill the tree with leaves and share your words with your community.
Located at the Waupaca Public Library
WCAB Facebook Poetry Group
This page is brought to you by the Waupaca Community Arts Board and Poetry Committee Members. This group page is where you can post your original poems based on the Monthly Poetry Word Prompts. WCAB poetry lovers encourage your creativity! Anyone can post a poem! We have a new prompt for each month. We hope that you can use this space to share your original writings but also share and discuss all things POETRY!
Prompts for March and April are Stone & Draw!
Other Happenings
Mondays in April- Check out WCAB Poetry Group Facebook page where folks will share a well-known poem every Monday during National Poetry Month! Click HERE to join the group and read the poems.
Monday, March 24 at 6p.m. The Grand National Lounge will be opening for an exclusive event with the Arts Hub. Poetry doesn’t have to start with a blank page; sometimes it starts with a full page from a book! Found poetry, also known as blackout poetry, is the process of creating poems by marking out words from recycled book pages. Location: THE GRAND NATIONAL LOUNGE, 106 W Union St, Waupaca, WI 54981 Pours & Poetry | Facebook
Background image from “Rhyme? and Reason?” by Lewis Carroll, 1883. Illustration by Arthur B. Frost /accessed at Project Gutenberg/gutenberg.org