Poetry Programs
Come join in all our poetry programs for 2024!
Keep an eye out for featured poetry by local poets on our socials, newsletter, and below!
Sidewalk Poetry Program: submissions due Sunday, May 19th (Deadline extended!)
Poetry Jam: Thursday, May 9th, at the Wolfe Park Building, starting at 7pm
May 2024 Featured Poem
By: SEAMUS
MCDONAGH
Want to view past poems? View our Poetry Archive!
Sidewalk Poetry Program: Applications open now, due Sun, May 12th
Through the City of St. Louis Park's sidewalk poetry program, residents, students, workers or those who have another meaningful connection to St. Louis Park are eligible to submit up to two original short poems or excerpts to be sandblasted into sidewalks throughout the city. Poetry in all languages is welcome.
Sidewalk poetry builds a sense of local identity and creates unexpected moments of pause, contemplation and reflection for pedestrians. There is no submission fee, and no compensation is given. Up to two original poems or excerpts will be accepted per person.
Poetry Jam: Thurs May 9th, Wolfe Park building, 7pm
Come to our Spring Poetry Jam! SLP Friends of the Arts hosts bi-annual Poetry Jams. These are all ages, family friendly, all languages, all forms poetry event.
Come read your own original poetry, poetry from poets you enjoy, or just listen to poetry.
Sidewalk Poetry 2023
In October 2023,16 new poems were sandblasted in our community's sidewalks for the most recent iteration of the Sidewalk Poetry Project!
In 2023, 77 different residents submit 114 unique, original poems for consideration. All applicants either live in St. Louis Park, or have some connection to the City. From that pool of applicants, a committee of local writers and City staff came together and selected 16 poems.
Head over to the Fern Hill neighborhood -- between Toledo Ave and Quentin Ave, and between W 26th St. and W 29th St., with one poem in front of a gazebo in nearby Twin Lakes Park -- and see all 16 new poems for yourself!
This was the third iteration of the Sidewalk Poetry Project. To see the former iterations of the Sidewalk Poetry Project, click on the City of St. Louis Park's interactive public art map.