Thawlight is a creative time in that transition from Winter to Spring.
Poets will gather in Ely, MN from April 10 – 12, 2026 for the League of Minnesota Poets Spring Conference.
Highlights of the conference will include workshops from Sheila Packa from Duluth, Ryan Leng from Grand Marais, and Donna Isaac from Inver Grove Heights.
Come enjoy the Northwoods with your fellow poets. Bring lots of poetry for the open mics. Enjoy a reading from our most recent John C. Rezmerski Award winner, Annette Gagliardi, at the launch of the award-winning book. Tour the Bear Center and/or Listening Point.
Registration Form and Payment
Register for the event via our Registration Google Form.
Pay the appropriate registration fee, based on membership:
- Spring Conference Member Registration
- Spring Conference Non-Member Registration
Hotel Booking
Call the Grand Ely Lodge at 218-365-6565 to book your room for the conference.
You’re booking with the League of Minnesota Poets, Room Block #262915.
The rate is $149.99 plus tax, if rooms in our block are still available.
You pay nothing to reserve your room at this rate, so book now and pay or cancel later. You can cancel up to 48 hours in advance without penalty.
Submit Your Poems to Agates (2026) — Deadline March 1st
To review the submission guidelines and submit your poems, visit our Submittable portal.
Note: Only members of the League of Minnesota Poets may submit to Agates. Need to renew your membership for 2026? Pay dues here.
2025 Minnesota Poetry Prizes Contest Results & John Rezmerski Memorial Manuscript Competition Winners List
Congratulations to all our winners, and thank you to all who participated!
Find the results for our annual contest here: Annual Minnesota Poetry Prizes Contest Results (2025)
Find the results for the 2025 John Rezmerski Memorial Manuscript Competition here: John Rezmerski Memorial Manuscript Competition (2025)
Our 3rd Annual Agates IndyBookStore Tour
To promote Agates and the League of Minnesota Poets, we have over 60 poets reading on this 3rd Annual Agates IndyBookStore Tour in independent bookstores throughout Minnesota.
Target towns for the tour include, but are not limited to: Duluth, Bemidji, Moorhead, Alexandria, St. Cloud, Mankato, Rochester, Winona, Brainerd, Austin, Red Wing, Buffalo, Perham, Grand Marais, and the Twin Cities.
All Agates readers on this tour will also have the opportunity to read from and sell their own books. Poets in the 2025 Agates will be given priority, but any League member poet is invited to read in this tour.
If you’d like to read at an independent bookstore, please click the button below to sign up. After that, you will be contacted through the League of Minnesota Poets Press Gmail account and kept abreast of upcoming readings that you will sign up for, if you’re available to do them.