Apr
18
6:30 PM18:30

CUP Public Reading at Champaign Public Library

CUP at CPL. We will be in the Robeson Pavilion A&B, which is downstairs on the ground floor.

April is National Poetry Month in the U.S. Please join the CU Poetry Group for a celebration of the art as group members read selected works. 

Poetry is a vibrant art when read aloud. The CU Poetry Group meets weekly to share poems and exchange honest feedback to make the poems better with an eye toward publication and public performance. The group says, "Our public readings are where our poems come to life with an audience in a casual and informal setting. We believe in building community one poem at a time."

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Apr
9
2:00 PM14:00

CU Poetry Group reading for Boneyard Arts - Ground Floor Edition

Our first-ever Sunday Boneyard Arts featured reading. 

We are will be reading at PizzaM, which is much more accessible to those who have trouble reaching the 3rd floor of a bookstore. We are honored to be part of an art show so come treat your eyes as well as your ears.

Poetry is a vibrant art when read aloud. The CU Poetry Group meets weekly to share poems and exchange honest feedback to make the poems better with an eye toward publication and public performance. The group says, "Our public readings are where our poems come to life with an audience in a casual and informal setting. We believe in building community one poem at a time."

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Apr
8
2:00 PM14:00

CU Poetry Group reading for Boneyard Arts

Our annual Boneyard Arts featured reading. 

We are proud to be in our third year of partnering with Jane Addams Book Shop for the Boneyard Arts Festival.

Poetry is a vibrant art when read aloud. The CU Poetry Group meets weekly to share poems and exchange honest feedback to make the poems better with an eye toward publication and public performance. The group says, "Our public readings are where our poems come to life with an audience in a casual and informal setting. We believe in building community one poem at a time."

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Mar
13
7:00 PM19:00

Poets at the Post

Poets at the Post

A monthly open mic for all poets, storytellers, and spoken word artists.

Where: The Iron Post in Urbana

When: The 2nd Monday of each month

What Time: Sign-ups at 6:30, reading starts at 7

Bring up to four minutes of your best, most engaging words and read in a supportive, fun, relaxed atmosphere.

Each week will also feature a local or regional reader doing a longer set around the mid-point.

Our 3/13 feature is Will Reger

Co-sponsored by The Iron Post and the Champaign Urbana Poetry Group

Keep the Arts alive in our community!

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Feb
13
7:00 PM19:00

Poets at the Post

A monthly open mic for all poets, storytellers, and spoken word artists.

 Where: The Iron Post in Urbana

When: The 2nd Monday of each month

What Time: Sign-ups at 6:30, reading starts at 7

Bring up to four minutes of your best, most engaging words and read in a supportive, fun, relaxed atmosphere.

 Each week will also feature a local or regional reader doing a longer set around the mid-point.

Our 2/13 feature is Xuxa Rodriguez

Co-sponsored by The Iron Post and the Champaign Urbana Poetry Group.

Keep the Arts alive in our community!

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Jan
8
7:00 PM19:00

Poetry Reading by Mary McCormack Deka

Here is a community event not related to CU Poetry that you may want to attend. Bring a friend. 

Mary will be reading from her first book of poetry, Away from Shoreas well as sharing some poems from other books in progress. She might end up telling a story or two as well. After the reading there will be a low-key reception. Feel free to bring a snack or drinks to share, but there's no pressure to do so. 

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Oct
4
7:00 PM19:00

CUP at CPL

October already? Ugh. Anyway, we return to the Champaign Public Library, Room 215 upstairs. 

Bring 10 to 12 or 14 copies of a work in progress for constructive feedback on your poem. 

We are going to use a sign up sheet on-site. There will be 8 spots for a 2 hour meetup and if we get through 8 then anyone else who wants feedback can go.

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Jun
14
7:00 PM19:00

CUP at the Baymont Inn & Suites Champaign

We will meet in the dining area immediately to the right in the lobby. I am lucky in that all of my hotel memories have been fun ones, vacations or weekend getaways. But I know others have had to use them as short- or long-term shelters due to disasters, natural, personal, or otherwise. The Prompt is "Sleep", and all things related to that.

As always, if you choose to share a poem, please bring 10-12 copies for feedback. Also, though the address reads 302 W. Anthony, you actually have to turn north on Pinnacle Dr. to get to the parking lot entrance. 

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May
24
7:00 PM19:00

CU Poetry at UFL

Urbana Free Library - bring 10 - 12 copies of a poem in progress. I like this room but don't like the mandatory early dismissal. If you need a theme or prompt, try something about stopping. Like stopping to soon, being forced to stop, stop signs (why are they octagons), stop and go, etc.

We meet in the conference room at the bottom of the stairs on the right. They do enforce a closing time of 8:45 so do your best to be on time. 

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Apr
23
10:30 AM10:30

Monthly CUP Generative Workshop at CPL

We will engage in prompts to produce rough drafts of new poems. Unlike our weekly critical workshops, you need only bring your preferred writing medium, be it pen/paper or laptop, for the exercises and prompts. 

Please note - in addition to enhancing our group experience, these monthly workshops are intended to be a bit of a fundraiser to cover costs of the Meetup site and library room rental so I will be asking for an optional $5.00 donation from each attendee. In light of everyone's generosity this is truly voluntary. 

This will take place at the Champaign Public Library, upstairs in room 215.

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Apr
5
7:00 PM19:00

CU Poetry at County Market Duncan & Kirby

This week, we are trying a new venue - the Caribou Coffee shop in the County Market grocery store at Duncan and Kirby in Champaign. When you enter the store, drift left through the floral toward the coffee counter then look for the seating area tucked in between the bakery (on the left) and the start of the deli counter (on the right). They have free wi-fi for those inclined. Bring 10-12 copies of a poem/poem in progress or something you want to fine tune before Boneyard.

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Apr
2
12:00 PM12:00

Community Choices Photobomb

We are collaborating with a CU organization called Community Choices, who works with local folks to build and promote an inclusive community. 

They are running a photobooth of sorts and need readers to serenade random people with a poem while their photo is being taken and perhaps photobombed. 

This will be in downtown Champaign in front of Big Grove tavern and should be fun even though the poetry is not the main focus.

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Mar
29
7:00 PM19:00

CU Poetry at Faith UMC - Women's History Month

Lets celebrate the women of poetry. Choose a poem by a woman poet you admire and write poem to complement it in any style you choose, You can use elements of the poem in an erasure or golden shovel, write in the same style, write a response to something in the poem, or whatever strikes your fancy. And of course as always bring whatever you are working on. Please bring 8-10 copies to share.

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MTD Poems 2016 Contest
Feb
18
to Mar 11

MTD Poems 2016 Contest

             

 

Champaign Urbana Poetry Group MTD Poems Free Poetry Contest 2016

 

April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate, the CU Poetry Group, in conjunction with the Champaign-Urbana MTD and Martin One Source, is holding a free Poetry Contest open to all Champaign County students and residents. The winning poem will be prominently displayed during the months of April, May, and June, on 75 CU MTD community buses running throughout Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy. The CU MTD averages over one million rides per month, which will offer great exposure to the winning poem. There is no fee to enter this contest.

 

Poetry Contest Guidelines

·        All poems must be original work of the poet and previously unpublished

·        Poems can be rhyming or non-rhyming in any format

·        Poems will be evaluated on originality and creativity

·        Due to space limitations, poems can be no more than 8 lines in length and must fit on an 11X17 poster. Short forms are welcome but not required

·        Content must be suitable for public display

·        English language only

·        Poets of any age can enter

·        Only one poem per entry, one entry per person

 

How to Enter

·        Submit your entry in an email sent to cupoetry@gmail.com with the subject line MTD Poems

·        If your poem is in a form that requires specific formatting, please attach it as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf. Otherwise, you may include it in the body of the email

·        Include your name, age, hometown or school, email address and phone number in the body and in the attachment, if using one

·        Entry deadline is March 11, 2016

 

Notification

·        Winner will be contacted within 5 days of entry deadline

·        Winner’s name and school or hometown may be used in promotional announcements

·        Winner will receive one copy of finished poster

·         Poets retain all copyrights to the submitted poems

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CU Poetry in the Neighborhood - Nose to the Grindstone Edition
Aug
18
7:00 PM19:00

CU Poetry in the Neighborhood - Nose to the Grindstone Edition

Back to school time. This week bring in 8-10 copies of a work in progress or if you need a prompt to get you writing - bring in a work poem - whatever that means. Have fun with it - use it as a therapeutic (work related) stress release (hopefully not just primal scream therapy), is parenting work? how about writing poetry?

And

Speaking of work, let's use this meetup as an organizational meeting as well. What does that mean? Simply stated, let's decide what we are going to do with CU Poetry in the upcoming year and by what mechanism we will do that. 

Personally I think it would be fun and more democratic to run CU Poetry similar to a worker self directed enterprise... So I mean CU Poetry is work? Of course it is. It takes effort to write poems and to attend and prepare for meetings, but who says work can't be interesting, enlightening, empowering and fun? Hmmm, I wonder what our work poems will say about that?

 

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