Reelfoot Lake; Photo Credit, Lori Goetz
63rd Annual Festival and Contest
Festival
Come join us in Memphis for the Poetry Society of Tennessee's (PST's) 63rd Annual Festival, to be held on October 19, 2019. Budd Powell Mahan, former National Federation of State Poetry Societies President and long-time member of the Poetry Society of Texas will be our Workshop Leader! Budd has been a judge for many of PST's contests, and we're happy to welcome him to Memphis. Click here for a sneak peak at our workshop leader!
The festival will be held on Saturday, October 19th from 9-4:30 at Southwest Tennessee Community College, Macon Road Campus. Click here for a festival brochure for a festival brochure and additional details. Don't forget about our pre-festival meet-and-greet on Friday night -- RSVP using the registration form. All registrations due by September 20th.
NEW FOR 2019 -- ORAL AND PERFORMANCE POETRY CONTEST!
We are sponsoring an oral poetry contest the day of the Festival! We plan to award prizes for both performance poetry as well as more traditional readings.
CONTEST
PST also sponsors an annual contest in conjunction with the Festival, offering a wide variety of poetry forms and subjects appealing to all poets; you do not need to be a member to enter.
Click here for our contest brochure, which lists all contests and contest rules!
Winners will be announced at our 63rd Annual Festival, to be held on October 19, 2019.
Questions on poetic forms? See our resources page. This has a link to Florence Bruce's Blogspot, as well as several other resources.
Last Year's Contest
Still looking for last year's results? Click on the link below!
62nd Annual Contest (2018) Winners
First place winners are also published in Tennessee Voices, our annual anthology. See our publications page for information on how to purchase a copy!
Monthly Members-Only Contests
Looking for our monthly members-only contests? Please see our monthly contests page.
Come join us in Memphis for the Poetry Society of Tennessee's (PST's) 63rd Annual Festival, to be held on October 19, 2019. Budd Powell Mahan, former National Federation of State Poetry Societies President and long-time member of the Poetry Society of Texas will be our Workshop Leader! Budd has been a judge for many of PST's contests, and we're happy to welcome him to Memphis. Click here for a sneak peak at our workshop leader!
The festival will be held on Saturday, October 19th from 9-4:30 at Southwest Tennessee Community College, Macon Road Campus. Click here for a festival brochure for a festival brochure and additional details. Don't forget about our pre-festival meet-and-greet on Friday night -- RSVP using the registration form. All registrations due by September 20th.
NEW FOR 2019 -- ORAL AND PERFORMANCE POETRY CONTEST!
We are sponsoring an oral poetry contest the day of the Festival! We plan to award prizes for both performance poetry as well as more traditional readings.
- Poems must be ORIGINAL work of the poet and in English; no profanity or offensive language.
- No more than 3 poems; total reading of all work must not exceed 3 minutes.
- No musical or percussion accompaniment during competition; no props or costumes.
- Oral competitions will be judged by a panel. Prizes awarded for both traditional and performance categories, as warranted.
- Entry fee — $2 + festival registration; please register for open mic contest with festival registration.
CONTEST
PST also sponsors an annual contest in conjunction with the Festival, offering a wide variety of poetry forms and subjects appealing to all poets; you do not need to be a member to enter.
Click here for our contest brochure, which lists all contests and contest rules!
Winners will be announced at our 63rd Annual Festival, to be held on October 19, 2019.
- All entries are due (postmarked by) August 20, 2019
- No electronic submissions; all entries must be submitted, regular mail, to the contest coordinator
- All submissions must follow the rules outlined in the contest brochure
- Winners will be posted on this webpage after the Festival
Questions on poetic forms? See our resources page. This has a link to Florence Bruce's Blogspot, as well as several other resources.
Last Year's Contest
Still looking for last year's results? Click on the link below!
62nd Annual Contest (2018) Winners
First place winners are also published in Tennessee Voices, our annual anthology. See our publications page for information on how to purchase a copy!
Monthly Members-Only Contests
Looking for our monthly members-only contests? Please see our monthly contests page.
