
Original & Junior Poetry Writing Contest
THE WEDNESDAY CLUB OF ST. LOUIS POETRY CONTESTS
Entry Deadline – February 1, 2024 • Awards Reception – April 10, 2024 at 1:oo pm
ORIGINAL POETRY CONTEST
ELIGIBILITY:
- Adults over 18; living within a 50-mile radius of St. Louis.
- Any person having won first prize in the contest twice within the last five years is ineligible for further cash awards but may be cited for honors.
RULES:
- Submit TWO TYPED COPIES of TWO poems, which have never been published or won an award.
- Use 8 1/2 x 11 paper with no more than one poem to a page.
- Sign with pseudonym ONLY.
- Type real name, address, e-mail address and telephone number on a separate sheet of paper and enclose with poems. No manuscripts returned.
MAIL TO:
Catherine Rankovic
ORIGINAL POETRY CONTESTS
3901 Sand Glade Trail
Pacific, MO 63069
EMAIL: Not available at this time
PRIZES: $500, $300, $150
JUDGE: GEORGE BILGERE
*His ninth book of poems, Cheap Motels of My Youth, will be published in March 2024.
*He has read his poems at the Library of Congress, the 92nd Street & in New York, the Chautauqua Institute, and the Folger Shakespeare Library.
*He has received numbersou national awards, grans and fellowships including NEA and Fulbright.
*He teaches poetry at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.
JUNIOR POETRY CONTEST
ELIGIBILITY:
- High School Students in Grades 9 through 12 in the St. Louis Area
RULES:
- Entries must be submitted through the English Department.
- Entries must be submitted with an English teacher’s signature indicating approval of the content.
- Each student must submit TWO copies of TWO original poems, one per page, signed with a pen name along with one completed official entry form per student.
FOR ENTRY FORMS OR QUESTIONS:
MAIL TO:
Kathy Holman
Junior Poetry Contest
2215 Derby Way
St. Louis, MO 63131
STUDENT PRIZES: $200, $150, $100, $80, $50, and up to five $25 honorable mentions
TEACHER AWARDS: $200, $150, $100
(Applies to teachers of first three student winners)
JUDGE: Denise Duhamel
*Author of thirteen chapbooks and seventeen full-length poetry collections. Most recent poetry books are Second Story (2021) and Scald (2017). Bowout (2013) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
*Recipient of fellowships from Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
*Served as a guest editor for The Best American Poetry 2013
*Distinguished professor in the MFA program at the Florida International University in Miami.

