Original & Junior Poetry Writing Contest

THE WEDNESDAY CLUB OF  ST. LOUIS POETRY CONTESTS

Entry Deadline – February 1, 2023 • Awards Reception – April 12, 2023 at 1:oo pm
The Wednesday Club will follow the County guidelines for Covid-19.

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.

SEND TO:

Dr. Genie McKee
ORIGINAL POETRY CONTEST
2036 Trailcrest Ln., Apt. #4
Kirkwood, MO  63122

EMAIL:  Not available at this time

PRIZES: $500, $300, $150

JUDGE:  BARBARA CROOKER
*poetry editor for Italian-Americana
*author of twelve chapbooks and nine full-length books of poetry.  Some Glad Morning, Pitt Poetry Series, University of Pittsburgh Poetry Press, 2019, is the latest.
*awards include the WB Yeats Society of New York Award, the Thomas Merton Poetry of the  Sacred Award,  and three Pennsylvania Council fellowships in literature
*work appears in literary journals and anthologies, including: Common Wealth:  Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania, and The Bedford Introduction to Literature.
*been on The Writer’s Almanac fifty-some times, Tracey K. Smith’s The Slowdown, and featured on Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry                      

   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:

Junior Contest Entry form for Contest Ending February 1, 2023 

SEND 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.