THE MOCCASIN
EDITOR: Meredith R. Cook - (507) 526-2653 - 427 N. Gorman, Blue Earth, MN 56013No Email address. (507) 526-5321 (507) 526-2698
PUBLISHED ANNUALLY BY THE LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA POETS
PRESIDENT: Charmaine Donovan - (218) 829-5402 - 18755 Tracside Rd. North
charmane@charter.net Brainerd, MN 56401
VICE PRESIDENT: Christina Flaugher - (507) 524-3250 - P.O. Box 446
ChrisMol4@aol.com Mapleton, MN 56065
RECORDING SECRETARY: Dennis Herschbach - (218) 834-2323 - 1410 Cardinal Road
dhersh@frontier.com Two Harbors, MN 55616
CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: Meredith R. Cook - see address above
HISTORIAN: Valarie Bump - (651) 222-1625 350 St. Clair Ave.
vals@usfamily.net St. Paul, MN 55102
TREASURER: Angela Foster - (320) 629-6085 30036 St. Croix Road
affoster_foster@yahoo.com Pine City, MN 55063
MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN: Stash Hempeck - (218) 861-6172 P.O. Box 57
captaincossak@juno.com Hendrum, MN 56550
LOMPLIGHTER EDITOR: Tarah L. Wolff - (218) 252-2486 15136 130th St.
tarahlynn@gmail.com Menahga, MN 56464
YOUTH CO-CHAIRMAN: Christina M. Flaugher and Bethany Berry 17430 Jonquil Ave. W.
(Manningham Activities) bethanyberry@hotmail.com (952) 892-6304 Lakevill, MN 55044
CONTEST CHAIRMAN: Susan Stevens Chambers - (507) 278-4200 57310 166th Lane
and ASST. TREASURER Good Thumder, MN 56037 schambersmediator@yahoo.com
Regional Vice Presidents
Susan Stevens Chambers - (507) 278-4200 (see email above) SMPS - Mankato Region
Kay Fox - (612) 571-0829 kay.foy@gmail.com Mississippi Poets - Twin Cities Region
Susan McMillan - (507 281-3507 suemac.sue@gmail.com SE Minn. Poets - Rochester Region
Dennis Herschbach - (218) 834-2323 dhersh@frontier.net Arrowhead Region
Doris Stengel - (218) 829-9072 dpoet@brainerd.net Brainerd Heartland Poets
Visit the official League of Minnesota Poets web site: www.mnpoets.org
Note: The Moccasin only publishes poems by members of the League of Minnesota Poets. Annual membership dues of $20.00 (Student membership dues $10.00) are payable by January 1 each year to Stash Hempeck, Membership Chair, P.O. Box 57, Hendrum, MN 56550. The League needs dues on time. The Moccasin will not be sent until dues are paid. Library subscription rate to The Moccasin is $5.00 plus $1.25 postage.
Be a Patron of the Arts! A long-standing tradition in the League of Minnesota Poets which has been allowed to lapse is the having of patrons for each issue; The Moccasin has never paid for itself. Please send checks to the League treasurer if you would like to donate. Any amount is welcome and will be acknowledged in this space. Thank you to those who purchase extra copies of The Moccasin; this helps ensure future issues.
Please send news of poetic honors and achievements, books published, and upcoming poetry events to the League's quarterly newsletter, The Lomplighter, c/o Tarah L. Wolff at tarahlynn@gmail.com or the address above. It is able to cover these in a more timely manner and in greater depth than The Moccasin can. Go to www.mnpoets.org to read or print out The Lomplighter.
LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA POETS FALL POETRY CONFERENCE
Oct. 16 at Open Book & 17 at - "aloft-Minneapolis" hotel Hosted by Mississippi Poets and Writers
FRIDAY: 3:00-5:00 p.m.: Check-in at "aloft-Minneapolis" - 5:00 p.m.: LOMP 75th Anniversary Reception at Open Book - 6:30 p.m.: NFSPS Report by Meredith R. Cook in the Auditorium 6:45 p.m.: 25th Annual Contest Awards - Susan Stevens Chambers, LOMP Contest Chair
SATURDAY: 7:30-8:15 a.m.: Hotel Breakfast - 8:30 a.m.: Board Meeting or Open Reading and Registration - 9:45 a.m.: General Assembly and Business Meeting 10:45 a.m.: Keynote Address: Norita Dittberner-Jax - 12:15 p.m.: Catered Luncheon 1:30 p.m.: Seminar: Conducted by Norita Dittberner-Jax - 3:00-3:30 p.m.: Door Prizes.
Thank you to Shirley Ensrud, Shirley Humberg, Doris Kessel, Ruth McNerney and Joanne Willette for help with proofreading, etc. Thanks also to Blue Earth Community Library for help with reference questions.
Printed by Bartley Printing Co., 110 N. Main St., Blue Earth, MN 56013 Copyright 2009 by the League of Minnesota Poets
Editor's note to members: SEND POEMS! Many poets' files contain LITTLE OR NOTHING. Keep at least six poems on file. Vary the subject matter, form, length and width; keep quality strong. Very short strong poems are especially desirable, especially 8 lines and under. There is a 24-line maximum limit for all poems that not NFSPS contests' prize winners. Do not put more than one poem on a page. Do not type on the front and back of the same page. Use 8-1/2-inch x 11-inch paper. Type or print your submissions. All poems except haiku and senryu must have titles. Proofread your work carefully. Check your spelling, especially hyphenated words. Check that your name and phone number are on the poem. Check that your subject and verb agree and your tense remains consistent. Do not use inversions or archaic language. If you intend to punctuate a poem unconventionally, send with it a statement that you are doing so on purpose and what effect you are striving for in doing so. Otherwise the editor may assume it is inadvertent and conventionally punctuate the poem. Remember this is your magazine, and strive to make it as fine as possible. If you want to use your whole book of poetry as your submission, please include $1.00 for every 20 pages for photocopying costs. Keep the Moccasin editor and the League's corresponding secretary informed of loss of loved ones and of change of address.
FINAL DEADLINE for submission to the 2010 issue of The Moccasin in July 10, 2010 (postmark).
While The Moccasin accepts previously published poetry, we only list credits for previous publication for the NFSPS contests' winners and poems published in other magazines and anthologies. This is done to encourage participation in NFSPS contests and to show members the kinds of poetry that win and are published. The moccasin can sometimes no longer print all the prize-winning poems by members. We must now limit each poet to no more than three poems which have won NFSPS contests each year.
Price of The Moccasin is $5.00 plus $1.25 for postage. Copies may be ordered from the Moccasin Editor Meredith R. Cook, 427 N. Gorman St., Blue Earth, MN 56013. Make checks payable to The League of Minnesota Poets. Back issues are available while supplies last for the following prices plus postage: 2008, $5.00; 2000-2007: $4.00 each; 1990-1999: $1.00 each.
Congratulations to League of Minnesota Poets! As of this year the League is 75 years old!
The League welcomes new members: Sandra Ervin Adams, Jacksonville, NC; Colleen Anderson, Superior, WI; Gloria Bauske, Flandreu, SD; Yvonne Cariveau, Makato; Jan Chronister, Maple, WI; Norita Dittberner-Jax, St. Paul; Melissa L. Downes, Clario, PA; Paige Ford, Superior, WI; Stash Hempeck, Hendrum; Jenna Kelly, Plymouth; Amy Korteum, North Mankato; Susan McMillan, Rochester; Greg Moglia, Huntington, NY; Judith Olsen Mosca, North Mankato; Titus S. Ourada, Duluth; Karsten Piper, Worthington; Pattu Ruskey, Makato; John H. Thornberg, Roseville; Sister Rafael Tilton, Rochester; and Gene Whipple, St. Paul.
New Books In 2008: Congratulations to Shirley Ensrud on the publication of her sixth, seventh and eighth books of poetry, When to Fly a Kite; Flight, Freeways and Detours; and Lures of the North. And to the Southern Minnesota Poets on the publication of their book, Poetic Flashes, edited by Thomas Hourt. Congratulations to the following poets on the 2009 publication of books of poems: Colin Chambers, Gladly We Are Made Clumsy and Unwise (NFSPS); Paul Walsh, You and I and Others: Tilting Windmills (Xlibris); Maxine Russel, Celebrating One Hundred; and Jo Wiesner, Out on a Limb. Congratulations to Evelyn Klein on the publication of Once Upon a Neighborhood (North Star Press), a book of her poetry, prose and art.
Congratulations to all of the League members who won, placed, or judged in the NFSPS fifty 2009 contests. Congratulation especially to Mary Willette Hughes who won a first place; to Charmaine Donovan who won two third prizes (one in category #1) and two honorable mentions; to Susan Stevens Chambers who won three third prizes, ad two honorable mentions; and to Doris Stengel who won one third prize and five honorable mentions. Other League members who won, placed, or were also cited (often in more than on category) were: Meredith R. Cook, Claire Van Breeman Downes, Angela Foster, Dennis Herschbach, Linda M. Johnson, Robert La Fleur, Ruth Schmidt-Beumler, Candace Simar, David Simms, Mary Rudbeck Stanko, Lucille Morgan Wilson and Laurel Winter. Seven LOMP members judged contests. Cogratulations! We are proud of all of you, as well as the winners in NFSPS' additional contests: to Colin Chambers on winning the NFSPS University Level Poetry Competition's Florence Kahn Memorial Award with his book Gladly We Are Made Clumsy and Unwise, to Suz Anne Wipperling for winning Third Place in the national Convention Madness Contest, and to Doris Stengel for winning two Honorable Mentions in that same contest; and to Charmaine Pappas Donovan for winning three of the six prizes in the Invocation Poetry Contest.
Thank you to the chapters who hosted LOMP conferences: the Southern Minnesota Poets for the Fall Poetry Contest in Rochester where Emelio DeGrazia, the speaker, conducted the seminar; and to the Arrowhead Poets for hosting the League of Minnesota Poets Spring Poetry Meeting in Roseville where speaker Cal Benson critiqued poems, taught poets, and read poems from his book Dakota Boy.
The League thanks Contest Chair Susan Stevens Chambers for conducting our annual contests. Anyone wishing to sponsor a future contest contact her at 57310 166th Lane, Good Thunder, MN 56037