Beth Staas
Beth Staas
Poet & Writer
 

Bio



I am a coal miner’s daughter who lived in a trailer across
the railroad tracks, a member of the “Greatest Generation.”

 

My parents were German immigrants, my father coming first to find a job and a place to live, then sending for the family. I was conceived in their joyous reunion. They didn’t know that this was the beginning of the Great Depression. But after hard work and careful savings, they opened a mom and pop store with my brother and sister pitching in after school. Then came World War II with the business flourishing. I attended college with battle-hardened veterans, one of whom I married. Since then, I have become a teacher, then a writer, a role I can pursue for the rest of my life.

Beth Staas, Poet and Writer, portrait.
 

Updates

The Chicago Area has a flourishing writing
and poetry community.

 

Poets & Patrons 67nd Annual Chicagoland Poetry
Contest 2023 Winners

This competition allows both members, and non-members to compete in various categories. Poetry editors and teachers from across the nation are selected each year to judge all entrants anonymously.

The Helene Schaible International Sonnet Contest 2023 Winners

Please consider entering the 2024 contest. Guidelines and Rules to be announced »