Janet Kuypers was one of the featured readers at Beach Poets at Loyola Beach in Chicago (Greenleaf and the lake, just east of Sheridan Road and 4 blocks north of the Loyola el stop, near Heartland Cafe — look for the “Beach Poets” tent just South of the Heartland’s Stand in the Sand and North of the restrooms). Beach Poets was created by award-winning poet and playwright, Cathleen Schandelmeier and was originally held at North Ave. Beach and earned Schandelmeier the title “Poet Laureate of North Ave. Beach” by the Chicago Tribune in 1996.

    The Beach Poets has been hosted by founder Cathleen Schandelmeier since 1990 when the venue where she was hosting a poetry reading was being rehabbed and she wasn’t told - so, the poets hit the beach -... North Avenue Beach! Presently located at Loyola Beach, on Greenleaf and the lake (two blocks south of Touhy), Beach Poets takes place from 3:00 pm-6:00 pm (with a new time in 2012) every Sunday afternoon in the summer. When going to the Beach Poets open mic (though there isn’t a mic on the beach...) and features, look for the Beach Poets tent South of the Heartland’s “Stand in the Sand” and bring poetry (your own or someone else’s) for the round-robin open mic. Children and pets are always welcome, so everyone in Chicago was told to bring the bug spray and the SPF lotion for this fun Sunday at the beach!

    Because Kuypers has been writing poems about the elements (yes, she is mixing science with poetry), Janet Kuypers is working on the Periodic Table of Poetry (which when completed may become it’s own book), and has decided that the only time she would read any of these poems would be at her own poetry features. She read some Periodic Table of Poetry poems at the 2012 Poetry Bomb (where she read the poems Hydrogen (001), Helium (002), Lithium (003), Carbon (006), and Radon (086) at “L” train stops and on the streets in Chicago), and poems from the Periodic Table of Poetry are slated for readings at her Perla Cafe feature in August 2012 in Evanston as well at in her 11/21/12 feature at the Cafe Gallery (the day before Thanksgiving). For her feature at Beach Poets, she plans to read poems about elements that not only relate to the air we breathe, the water around us and the sand under our feet at the beach, but also about anything from gemstones on your fingers to brushing your teeth to metals, the meaning of life, and even to tongue studs.