About INverse

INverse celebrates and preserves the diverse range of Indiana poetry for future generations of Indiana writers and readers. Founded by the 2018-2019 Indiana Poet Laureate, Adrian Matejka, the archive is a collaboration between the Indiana State Library and the Indiana Arts Commission. The archive is conceived to be a repository for all Hoosier poets, from amateur to professional.

Archive Submission Process

• The INverse Poetry Archive will accept new submissions between Feb 1 – April 30 every year (after the inaugural year).
• Submissions will be accepted through the IAC’s online system in.gov/arts/apply.

Eligibility Criteria

• The poem’s author must have had residency in Indiana for at least 5 years, either currently or in the past.
• The poem must meet the spirit of the project, which is to archive and preserve poetry from Indiana poets.
• The author must be able and willing to agree to the INverse rights agreement.
• The poem cannot have excessive profanity.
• The poem cannot be or include any erotica or pornographic imagery.
• The poem cannot include hate speech.
• The poem’s author can either be living or deceased.
• An author cannot have more than 10 poems in the archive total.
• After acceptance of poem/s to the Indiana Poetry Archive, an author may submit another 1-3 poems after a period of 3 years.
• A person may submit poems on behalf of another eligible poet if that person is able to ensure they have the authority to agree to the INverse rights agreement.
• Non-English poems are eligible for consideration as long as they are accompanied by an English translation.

Eligibility Review Process

• The Eligibility Review Committee is a panel of four people who meet annually to review submitted poems using the eligibility criteria.
• The panel is comprised of one representative of the Indiana State Library staff, one representative of the Indiana Arts Commission staff, the current Indiana Poet Laureate, and Adrian Matejka, INverse Founder and Indiana Poet Laureate emeritus.
• The review panel has sole discretion over eligibility and all decisions made by the panel are final. No appeals process exists.

Timeline

• Submission period: February 1 – April 30
• Committee Review: May 1 – May 31
• Notification on Acceptance into Archive: June 30
• Accepted Poems available online in digital archive: August 15

Ready to submit? Only applications submitted online will be accepted.