Dear Poets,

As Taos, New Mexico’s second Poet Laureate for the years 2020-2022, I proposed as my poetry project Poetry in Nature which is the installation of poems into natural settings on private and public properties in Taos County.  Being well-received, the following properties enthusiastically await poetry installations: Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico; Mabel Dodge Luhan House & Conference Center; John Dunn Shops in historical downtown Taos; and Rio Fernando Park. Please open the links to these properties to see where your poem might be installed if selected, with the possibility of other locations as the project takes shape. Please also follow this link to view an example of what a poem in nature looks like: Edmand’s Poetry in the Park Project inspired by Grey Held.

The submission process is as follows:

  • Poems will be accepted during only the month of May 2020 (stay tuned for the opening of the submissions portal).
  • Poems will be sensitive to the nature and culture of northern New Mexico, therefore those poems that are written in reaction to the immense natural setting of this area encouraged.
  • Poem Guidelines: no more than 14 lines including stanza breaks, with 45 characters max per line including spaces. If poems do not meet these guidelines they will not be read and considered.
  • Please note that submissions are limited to two poems submitted in a single file as word documents. Please include all writer contact info on a separate first page of the submitted file.
  • All poems will be read anonymously and carefully by Taos Poet Laureate, Catherine Strisik, and SOMOS Executive Director, Jan Smith.
  • No previously published poems.
  • $10.00 submission payment paid through PayPal to be used toward the Poetry in Nature Project.

Looking forward, gratefully,

Catherine Strisik