" Poems for the Moment " is a series of short pieces -- poems by North Dakota poets that we invited to share poems reflecting the current moment -- some of them newly written, some poems they already had that were appropriate. Two Poet Laureates (Larry Woiwode of North Dakota and Debra Marquart of Iowa) are among the eleven poets who share their works. They are gathered together here. Then, they are followed by highlights from the North Dakota winner and finalists from the 2021 Poetry Out Loud competition. High school students perform poems by recognized writers ..read more

Madelyn Camrud has lived all but nine months of her life in North Dakota. She received degrees in visual arts and creative writing from The University of North Dakota. She taught in the English department before taking a position at the North Dakota Museum of Art, where she served as director of Audience Development. Camrud's poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Kalliope, Painted Bride Quarterly, Descant, and others. Two of her poems were chosen to air on Garrison Keillor's "Writers Almanac." In the spring of 2005, North Dakota Poet Laureate Larry Woiwode named Camrud an Associa ..read more

[Scroll down for the text of the poems] Debra Marquart is a Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University and Iowa’s Poet Laureate. She is the Senior Editor of Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment . A memoirist, poet, and performing musician, Marquart is the author of six books including an environmental memoir of place, The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere and a collection of poems, Small Buried Things: Poems. Marquart’s short story collection, The Hunger Bone: Rock & Roll Stories drew on her experiences as a former road mu ..read more

Natalie Pierce maintains a day-job as an urban planner and writes whenever she can. She lives in rural Morton County with her husband and two sons. She is a member of the Bis-Man Writer's Guild and is currently working on a piece for The Art of Writing traveling exhibit. Natalie was the first person to submit a poem for "Poems for the Moment", and it is amazing how the poem still works so well. At some point this moment will become old news, but not yet. Just a Note to Send Some Cheer Just a note to send some cheer From far away to you right here. Although the days may look the same Each set i ..read more

Scroll down for the text of the poem. ShaunAnne Tangney has lived in North Dakota for nearly twenty-five years. She was an English Professor at Minot State University for twenty years where her scholarly work and teaching focused on literature of the US west, sense of place, and critical theory. She is a scholar, an essayist and a poet whose work has been published in the US, Great Britain, and Australia. She is currently writing and producing essays and podcasts for the Good Talk Network and she is Lead Writer and Associate Producer for North Dakota’s own late-night talk show, Good Night Live ..read more

Text of the poem is below. Emily Vieweg, MFA, is a poet and playwright originally from St. Louis, Missouri. Her work has been published in Foliate Oak , The Voices Project , Red Weather Literary Magazine , Soundings Review , Art Young’s Good Morning , The Basil O’Flaherty Feminist Voices and more. More about Emily here . and her new book here . I’ll Read Poems by the Pomegranates If I designed grocery stores, I would sell books of poems next to the wine, the seltzer, and in the chocolate aisle. Tabloids would live near the recycle bins in the back dock, and newspapers would not hide stuck behi ..read more

Larry Woiwode is North Dakota's Poet Laureate. From his celebrated novel "Beyond the Bedroom Wall" through his publication in top national literary magazines, his prose and poetry have continually drawn appreciation and awards. We asked him to give us the text of what he recited for this piece. His first recitation was from a poem called "20" and here is what he sent. 20 So much of this poem was reduced from the actual text or added to in an improvised mode, changing entirely the poem on the page, I feel it wouldn’t be fair to reprint the poem here, and I should probably seek the permission of ..read more

Larry Woiwode (North Dakota's Poet Laureate) says : "Warren Sturlaugson's poetry is direct, uncluttered, infused with dimensional faith, and a full-bodied sense of humor and genial wit, along with graphic representations of North Dakotans' views on weather, the surrounding atmosphere and Dakotans' general state of mind". Warren is the author of two poetry collections, "Braiding Frayed Air" and "The Brightening Atmosphere", available at Amazon.com. Dear Coronavirus Dear Coronavirus, You have been trying to catch me since Monday, and I've been avoiding you like the plague. Well, I don't mean to ..read more

A fifth-generation North Dakotan, Shadd Piehl’s poetry has appeared in the anthologies, Between Earth and Sky: Contemporary Cowboy Poets , Maverick Western Verse , Brushstrokes and Balladeers , and the magazines Aluminum Canoe , Pemmican , Red Weather , and Dry Crik Review, among others. A private investigator and adjunct English instructor, Shadd lives along Crown Butte Creek in the Heart River valley west of Mandan with his family. Masks Believe me it is much better to hide; I only wear one to protect you from What I may possess or what is inside, My true self, my virus, what may become. The ..read more

Text of the poem is below. Emily Vieweg, MFA, is a poet and playwright originally from St. Louis, Missouri. Her work has been published in Foliate Oak , The Voices Project , Red Weather Literary Magazine , Soundings Review , Art Young’s Good Morning , The Basil O’Flaherty Feminist Voices and more. More about Emily here . and her new book here . The First Friday in June The moment when you leave your office and head to lunch in the misty rain, you blink and sniff the North Dakota air, and you are in grandma’s backyard in Massachusetts, running around the pool, chasing your sister, the bunnies ..read more