By Heather Lusk
Two Zionsville residents had their poetry permanently etched in Zionsville’s sidewalks last summer. Once again, the Zionsville Cultural District is looking for entries for its Step-On-Us Sidewalk Poetry Contest.
Last year’s contest drew 169 entries from 22 Indiana communities.
“We were so pleasantly surprised last year,” said Donna Monday, one of the poetry contest committee members. “We were just holding our breath on the first day or two, and then, bingo, they just started rolling in.”
The styles last year ran the gamut from simple to humorous to profound.
The winning poems will be imprinted in conjunction with the Zionsville Street & Stormwater Dept.’s sidewalk repair schedule. Locations for this year’s imprints are unknown.
Last year’s winners, Carrie Ciula and Megan Alms, saw their work stamped into the sidewalk on Sycamore Street between Main and First streets.
The contest is the first of its kind in Indiana.
“It’s kind of nice to be a leader,” Monday said. “If you’re going to lead with something, what better than poetry?”
Because of size constraints, poems must be short and not be political or profane. A winner for two categories will be announced: youth open to Zionsville residents and adult open to Indiana residents. Entry fees are $5 for youth 17 and younger and $10 for adults.
Entries are due by Feb. 14 with winners announced in March. Entries can be mailed to Zionsville Cultural District, 225 W. Hawthorne St., Zionsville, IN 46077, or submitted online at zionsvilleculturaldistrict.org. Submitted poems will be judged without the authors’ names.
