By Renee Larr
Brick Street Poetry has compiled a collection of new poems to help celebrate the bicentennial of Indiana. “Mapping the Muse” includes work from various poets throughout the Hoosier state.
“We applied to the bicentennial commission a couple of years back to put together a book of poetry that would be representative of the state,” said Joyce Brinkman, a Zionsville resident and program chair of Brick Street Poetry.
The nonprofit received some of its submissions for the book by asking libraries throughout the state to hold poetry contests.
“We really wanted to try and get poems that were representative of the different areas of the state,” Brinkman said. “We told them they could send us up to five poems from people in their counties, and then our editor would choose one.”
Each poet laureate from the state also provided a poem. Brinkman worked with various poetry groups throughout Indiana, as well, including the Indiana Federation of Poetry Clubs.
“We did a collaborative poem on the state parks because the federation holds their fall meeting at various state parks,” Brinkman said. “Then I wrote with the Prairie Guild up in northwest Indiana. We wrote a poem called ‘On the Prairie,’ and it deals with imagery of the wildflowers of the prairie. I also did a collaborative poem with some of the major poetry professors around the state. We did one on the rivers of Indiana.”
The book not only seeks to celebrate the state’s 200th birthday, but it also shows the wide range of poets in Indiana.
“One of the county poems happens to be from a group of fifth graders. Another poem was written by a 93-year-old woman,” Brinkman said. “It really gives you a broad picture of the state of poetry in Indiana today at the time of the bicentennial.”
The book is available at Black Dogs Books in Zionsville for $10. It will be available at area libraries soon.
