Be Part of Lost Nation Theater's OUR TOWN FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

How?

One way is to accept LNT's POETRY CHALLENGE.
A challenge laid down by poet, choreographer & theater artists Kim Ward!

It's not just for word-based poetry!

Submit here


images on this page courtesy of Lloyd Devereaux Richards

Here's How it works!

Lost Nation Theater’s Our Town Poetry and Image Contest submitt and/or take part in our poetry workshop (see below for details).

THEME: “Community connections and the impermanence of life” 

ADDITIONALLY: Use one of these two quotes as inspiration for your work

My, wasn’t life awful… and wonderful? (Mrs. Soames)

Or 

There are the stars—doing their old, old crisscross journeys in the sky … Only this one is straining away, straining away all the time to make something of itself. The strain’s so bad that every sixteen hours everybody lies down and gets a rest. (The Stage Manager)

POETRY

What: Create a poem of no longer than 50 lines (including spaces). 

Who: Work by all ages and experiences welcomed. 

VISUALS

 
WHAT: One image of any type: sketch, watercolor, photo, etc. that can be displayed no larger than size 11 x 17 and ready to be hung. Small 3-D art (no bigger than 18 inches square) will be considered as well.

WHO: Work by all ages and experiences welcomed. 

• HOW: Digital submissions should be in JPG or PNG (preferred) format of at least 300 DPI. 

Visual artists may drop off their original work by Monday, April 13th to be hung before the production opens if they would like to hang the original.) 

WHEN: 

Submit work to from now through April 10th. 

SUBMIT HERE

Prizes: 

• Submissions will be reviewed and formatted/printed to hang in the LNT Lobby gallery. We will marry like images to poems or poem clusters.
  
  

• Top three poems and images will receive 2 tickets to Our Town and poets will get a chance to have a poetry presentation coaching session with LNT artist and founder, Kim Bent followed by a chance to read your poem before the show. 

 

Prompt for Writing Workshop

 

Using the quote from Mrs. Soames in Act III: "My, wasn’t life awful… and wonderful?"

In Our Town, this line captures the bittersweet truth that life holds struggle and beauty at the same time.
For this poetry exercise, explore how these contradictions show up not just in individual lives, but in the life of a community.

Try writing a poem that is best as a spoken-aloud piece. You could:

• Begin with the quote or be inspired by it.

• Reflect on moments when people in a community experience hardship (“awful”) and moments when they come together to support one another (“wonderful”).

• Show the way everyday people help create meaning, connection, and resilience.

• Highlight how shared experience—joy or sorrow—binds people together.

 

Consider questions like:

• When has your community endured something difficult?

• What small acts of kindness or togetherness made the difference?

• How do ordinary lives, woven together, create something larger?

Let the poem hold both truths at once — what hurts and what heals — just as Wilder’s characters do.

A poetry workshop, led by Kim Ward, will be held on Monday, April 6 th at 7:00 pm in Lost Nation Theater's Lobby Cabaret

Find out more about Lost Nation Theater's OUR TOWN

Submit Here