St. Louis Park's project to spread poetry through the community has proven so popular that the city's Friends of the Arts group is retaining its community poet for a few extra months so more poetry jams can be held this fall.

"We've been getting calls this summer asking, 'When is the next poetry jam?' " said Susan Schneck, president of the Friends of the Arts. "We're going to hang on to her a bit."

The community poet is Diane Pecoraro, who assembled the "renga" that was the crowning effort of the poetry project. St. Louis Park's renga -- a Japanese word that means "group poem" -- was put together from phrases created by city residents at poetry workshops in a school, nursing home, library, church and other settings. People ages 8 to 80 contributed.

"These were lines that people wrote, and I tried not to tamper with them," Pecoraro said. "I just cemented it all together."

The renga and 12 favorite poems with pictures of the people who picked them are featured in the 2010-11 community calendar that was mailed to 20,000 homes in the city. Favorite poems include classics by Robert Frost and Lord Byron as well as a funny poem about pizza and two poems written by young boys.

A renga is supposed to contain "surprises and striking imagery," according to the calendar text. St. Louis Park's renga addresses diversity, memory, people yelling from a bar during a Vikings game and the scent that a jacket picks up when worn near a wood fire. The renga can be read at www.slpfriendsofthearts.org .

"I thought it was a wonderfully visionary project ... something that was unique," Pecoraro said.

But it wasn't always easy.

When the Friends of the Arts did a photography project last year, there was no problem getting participants, Schneck said. There was a feeling that anyone could snap a picture. But poetry felt elitist and scary to some people, and Schneck said that sometimes people held back until they were coaxed into participating. "People think of poetry as more intellectual," Schneck said. "They don't think of it as something everyone can do."

In the end, it became something people embraced. Pecoraro said a coffeehouse poetry jam was filled with people of all ages who read their poems to a full house. Afterward, some people approached Pecoraro and said they wanted to get together again.

"They wanted to connect again with people who were writing," she said. "It gave some people a sense that 'I can do this, I can think about writing poetry.' "

Schneck said demand from residents who want more poetry events means there likely will be several more poetry jams this fall.

"People who are involved give it a life of its own afterwards," she said. "It sparked an interest, and this will spark a flame, connect with other people and continue."

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380