The Poetry Society of Tennessee invites student poets to participate in their 2023-2024 student poetry contest, open to Tennessee-based students in grades 2 through 12.
Public, private and home-schooled students may participate. PST encourages students, teachers and parents to become involved. Winning poems receive monetary prizes and may be published in Tennessee Voices Anthology.
PST offers a High School Division (grades 9-12) Free Verse contest, a Middle School Division (grades 6-8) Free Verse contest and an Elementary Division (grades 2-5) contest for any form poem. The contest entry postmark deadline for High School and Middle School divisions is December 22, 2023. The Elementary division deadline is March 16, 2024.
Contest guidelines and more are on PST’s website: poetrytennessee.org/pststudentcontests.html.
Among PST’s central values is to engage young poets. “Poetry is a vital literary art,” notes PST President Lisa Kamolnick. “We enjoy seeing the creativity and excitement of Tennessee’s young poets and look forward to announcing winners and sharing their work.”
She adds, “In past years, teachers have taught lessons on poetry and submitted students’ final poems resulting from that instruction. We encourage not only schools but youth-focused organizations and clubs to explore this opportunity.”
For more information about the society and contest, visit www.poetrytennessee.org. Questions about the contest or the society may be directed to poetrytennessee@gmail.com.