Posted on: February 22, 2023 Posted by: Glacier Staff Comments: 0

Graphic by Emily Stephens

By Nick Stulga, Editor-in-Chief

If you write poetry, it’s time to share it with the world–or at least with the Moraine community–in the third annual MV Poetry Contest & Coffeehouse.

For the past two years, Moraine Valley poets have been reading their poems by the blueish tint of the computer screen. That’s going to change this year.

The Coffeehouse, which has been virtual due to pandemic restrictions since it began, will be held in person for the first time this year. It will take place in the front of Moraine’s library from 3-4:30 p.m. on April 20. Submissions are due March 30.

Wren Theriault won last year’s Grand Prize for their poem “A Day Doesn’t Go By”

Organizers are hoping to get student musicians to play between poetry performances to make the event feel like an actual coffeehouse, which was the original plan at the event’s inception in 2019.

“We absolutely had planned on having a full coffeehouse,” said information literacy librarian Tish Hayes, one of the organizers. “It was big in the ’60s and ’70s, and then there was a big revival in the ’90s. We are looking to actually get some coffee and have coffee and snacks and stuff.”

Students can submit their poems via this Google form, both in written form and spoken on video. The poet can read it, or they can have someone else read it for them if they don’t feel comfortable on screen.

Three judges–poet and communications professor Panshula Ganeshan, a student judge representing the Glacier, and one of the librarians–will determine the winners of the Grand Prize category, the Runner Up and Best Performance. The event attendees will be able to vote in a student poll on the Student Choice Award.

“I’m excited this year’s event will be in person,” said Ganeshan, who has judged in the past.

Organizers also are looking for musicians to showcase during the event. The coffeehouse will be organized into short “sets” of poets reading their work, with music featured between sets. Interested musicians should contact communications professor Lisa Couch at CouchL3@morainevalley.edu.

Although the first two Coffeehouse events had to be held virtually, the celebrations of writing were well-received by those who attended, organizers said.

“There’s something really beautiful about bringing people together to listen to poetry,” Hayes said.

More information about the contest can be found at tinyURL.com/MVpoetry23.