Welcome, campers!

Welcome to Camp MoPo!

I’m Karen Craigo. As Poet Laureate of the State of Missouri, it is my privilege to promote Missouri poetry (MoPo) throughout my term, and I have a lot of neat things in mind to do so.

This website is home base for these activities. My original plan was to showcase place-based poetry from around the Show-Me State. I want to highlight all of the beautiful areas of our state, whether urban, rural, or sort of in between. There are some beautiful, historic, and just plain cool areas to promote and preserve, and it’s my goal to feature a poem highlighting each of Missouri’s 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis.

Are you a Missouri poet? Please consider writing or sending along a poem about a special place in your county. Together, we can share the beauty and wonder of Missouri to readers both inside and outside of our state.

Here are a few other projects to watch out for:

* Camping. We’re actually going to do some camping in the late summer and early fall, if health officials give us the go-ahead. Four campouts are planned for poets who would like to gather and write about the natural beauty of Missouri. More information will be posted as I solidify the details.

* Classroom enrichment. As a lot of classes have gone online, I’m making available educational capsules for teachers to use in their classroom, and I am also available for real-time online visits. If you are a teacher and you need any sort of poetry resource to facilitate online learning, please drop me a note.

* An anthology. Just in time for Missouri’s bicentennial in 2021, we’ll be compiling an anthology of Missouri poets writing about our state. Moon City Press at Missouri State University is our publisher. (Thanks, MSU!)

* Inspiration, motivation, and comfort. Keep an eye on this blog for prompts, poems, and some good, old-fashioned writing fun. Your guest posts are welcome as well.

I look forward to some creative fun with you in the coming days!