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Call for Submissions: Poetry Society of Michigan’s Five-Year Anthology

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The Poetry Society of Michigan is seeking poems for a five-year anthology to be published in 2026.

Current and former PSM members are known to be passionate about local environments both thriving and abandoned: lakes great and small; woods, streams, Karner Blue butterflies and more. We have rich histories tied to Michigan that inform our daily lives. To that end, we are seeking poems that convey the Power of Place.

If you have been a dues-paying PSM member in at least one of the past five years (2021-2025) we invite you to submit. Send your submission to PSM’s Anthology Managing Editor Melanie Dunbar at editor.psm@gmail.com.

Submissions open: January 1, 2026

Deadline for submissions: March 15, 2026

Guidelines: In the body of an email with the subject PSM ANTHOLOGY SUBMISSION include:

-Author name and contact information (address, phone and email)

-three to five poems (within the body of the email–no attachments please).

-Acknowledgement for any submitted poems that were previously published.

(We prefer new work but previously published work will be considered as long as the copyright is owned by the poet and the work is accompanied by information of when and where it was previously published.)

Note: While broad representation will be the editors’ primary intent, page limits, and applicability to the theme dictate that acceptance will be selective. Membership alone does not guarantee inclusion.

The anthology will be launched at our Fall Conference 2026 in Lansing and will be distributed to libraries state-wide. Readings will be held in multiple cities throughout 2027 to celebrate over 90 years of the Poetry Society of Michigan.

Contributors accepted will receive one copy of the anthology. Additional copies will be available for purchase at Amazon.com.

Bezos’ Wedding in Italy: What to Know

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is that my catalpa tree
is engorged with lightly
scented white flowers,
branches bowed down
and offering this bridal bouquet to me.

No gondolas on these rain
flooded streets, only twigs
and leaves gliding down to
the manhole covers,
dancing in circles until
they disappear below.

Roberta Brown is the winner of the 2025 Margo LaGattuta Memorial Award in PSM’s annual poetry contest.

Remember Poets Meet Musicians

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On Friday, October 3rd, the day before our PSM Conference, the “Poets Meet Musicians” event will take place at MiddleCoast Brewing Co., located at 329 E. State St. in Traverse City. The time is 8:30 p.m. arrival for a 9:00 reading. Bring a short poem to read or just come and enjoy a beverage, some food, and some music and poetry! What could be better than that? Hope to see you there.
 https://www.middlecoastbrewingco.com/

a day without fear / David James

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Some of the poems in A Day without Fear are months old while a few were written over forty years ago. Altogether this is an eclectic collection of poems ranging from the very imaginative to the pastoral to the hard poems about mortality and what happens after death, if anything. In this chaotic and harrowing world, it’s hard to live a day without fear, but we have to try.  As far as we know, this is the only life we’re going to get.



Born and raised on the third coast, Michigan, David James has published eight books and has had more than thirty of his one-act plays produced in the United States, Ireland, and England. After working for forty-five years in higher education, he retired in 2022.

New “Craft” Article by Shutta Crum

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In her article, Nailing the Landing, member poet, Shutta Crum writes, “Perhaps the most egregious crime of bad poetry is when the poet tries to summarize the poem for the reader. This usually happens at endings. But the writer must bear in mind that readers bring to the table their own histories. Readers take away what is needful at the moment—to them. And it may be something entirely other than what the writer had in mind while writing the poem.” Read the full article HERE.

Shutta Crum

Shutta Crum is the author of several middle-grade novels, thirteen picture books, many magazine articles and over a hundred and fifty published poems. She is also the winner of nine Royal Palm awards, including gold for her chapbook When You Get Here. (Kelsay Books, 2020). Her latest volume of poetry is Meet Me Out There. She is a well-regarded public speaker and workshop leader. shutta.com

Craft Articles (New Feature)

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A crucial step in becoming a better writer is getting and reflecting on seasoned advice. At the suggestion of David Jibson, we’ve decided to post a craft/writing article every other month except for April and October, our conference months. Our hope is that these articles motivate you and provide some new ideas for writing. 

Our first article comes from Florida writer and PSM member Shutta Crum (www.shutta.com). She’s published twenty-one books for children and poetry for adults, and we appreciate her letting us re-post her article. Please enjoy “Getting Started: Even with a Not-so-great Idea.” You can read it HERE

David James