Contest Information
Sunset over Hyde Lake, Shelby Farms; Photo Credit, Lori Goetz
The Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST) sponsors multiple contests through the year.
Monthly Members-Only Contests
Our contests run September-May (with our calendar); contests are sponsored by individual PST members or chapters. Contest rules are summarized below:
Monthly winners are announced at monthly meetings and in monthly communications; see our news page for links to the last years' monthly reports. First place winners are also published in Tennessee Voices, our annual anthology. See our publications page for information on how to purchase a copy!
2019/2020 Members-Only Contests
September — Sponsor, Gail Denham; Subject: First Line Contest. Pick a first line of a poem by a favorite poet. Begin your poem with that line. Your poem will be totally different. Credit the poet for that line. Any form; 30 lines max; $15/$10/$5
November — Sponsor, PST-Knoxville; Subject, It’s all relative — about a relative OR 2 or more related things. 25 lines; Form: Any. $15-10-5
December — Sponsor, JoAn Howerton; Subject: Memories of Christmas, Shakespearean sonnet; $15/$10/$5
January — Sponsor, Florence Bruce; Subject, any; Pantoum; 36 lines max; $15/$10/$5
February — Sponsor, Russell Strauss; TBD; $15/$10/$5
March — Sponsor, Lori Goetz; Subject: yellow; Free Verse; 20 lines max; $15/$10/$5
April — Sponsor: PST-NE; Subject: Any; Form: Any; 40 line max; $25/$15/$10
May — Sponsor: Howard S. Carman, Jr.; Subject: Science (any field); Subject: Science (any field); Form: Rhymed; 40 line max; $25/$15/$10
Annual Summer Contest
While the West Tennessee chapter takes a hiatus from regular meetings during June and July, we do sponsor an annual summer contest. This contest is funded by contributions from members, and is judged by an outside judge. Subject: Any, Form: Any, Line Limits: 40 max. Due date, July 1. Same rules of submission apply as outlined above.
63rd Annual Poetry Festival and Contest
We have a wide variety of poetry forms and subjects open to all poets in the Poetry Society of Tennessee's 63rd Annual Poetry Festival and Contest. See our festival and contest page for more details!
62nd Annual Contest (2018) Winners
Student Contest
One of PST's central values has been encouraging our young poets. Long-time West Tennessee member Frances Cowden has been instrumental in this outreach, and has been recognized by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies for her work. PST sponsors a contest open to all Tennessee students annually. Student categories are shown below:
Students in each age group and the eye poem category have different due dates, so please check the application. Also note that there are very specific formatting requirements: winning poems are submitted to National contests and may be published.
2018/2019 Student Contest Winners
2018/2019 Student Contest Application
2017/2018 Student Contest Winners
2017/2018 Student Eye Poem Contest Winners - Elementary School
2017/2018 Student Eye Poem Contest Winners - Middle School
Monthly Members-Only Contests
Our contests run September-May (with our calendar); contests are sponsored by individual PST members or chapters. Contest rules are summarized below:
- PST members may enter. Not a member? Join us.
- Submit 2 copies: one with the name of the contest in the upper left; the second with the name of the contest in the upper left, and the poet's ID information in the upper right (name, address, phone, email). An address label/sticker is acceptable. Poems 2 pages or longer must be stapled, and must have ID on both pages.
- Poems must be typed or computer generated in 11 or 12 point font. No onion skin paper. No hand-written poems.
- All poems must be submitted to the Contest Chair no later than the 20th of the prior month; for example, if you are submitting a poem for the September contest, poems must be received no later than August 20th.
- We are very sorry, but we do not accept electronic submittals at this time; all monthly entries must be submitted in hardcopy as described above.
- Send all submittals to the Monthly Contest Chair: Ann Carolyn Cates, 7471 Greenbrook Pkwy, Southaven, MS 38671.
Monthly winners are announced at monthly meetings and in monthly communications; see our news page for links to the last years' monthly reports. First place winners are also published in Tennessee Voices, our annual anthology. See our publications page for information on how to purchase a copy!
2019/2020 Members-Only Contests
September — Sponsor, Gail Denham; Subject: First Line Contest. Pick a first line of a poem by a favorite poet. Begin your poem with that line. Your poem will be totally different. Credit the poet for that line. Any form; 30 lines max; $15/$10/$5
November — Sponsor, PST-Knoxville; Subject, It’s all relative — about a relative OR 2 or more related things. 25 lines; Form: Any. $15-10-5
December — Sponsor, JoAn Howerton; Subject: Memories of Christmas, Shakespearean sonnet; $15/$10/$5
January — Sponsor, Florence Bruce; Subject, any; Pantoum; 36 lines max; $15/$10/$5
February — Sponsor, Russell Strauss; TBD; $15/$10/$5
March — Sponsor, Lori Goetz; Subject: yellow; Free Verse; 20 lines max; $15/$10/$5
April — Sponsor: PST-NE; Subject: Any; Form: Any; 40 line max; $25/$15/$10
May — Sponsor: Howard S. Carman, Jr.; Subject: Science (any field); Subject: Science (any field); Form: Rhymed; 40 line max; $25/$15/$10
Annual Summer Contest
While the West Tennessee chapter takes a hiatus from regular meetings during June and July, we do sponsor an annual summer contest. This contest is funded by contributions from members, and is judged by an outside judge. Subject: Any, Form: Any, Line Limits: 40 max. Due date, July 1. Same rules of submission apply as outlined above.
63rd Annual Poetry Festival and Contest
We have a wide variety of poetry forms and subjects open to all poets in the Poetry Society of Tennessee's 63rd Annual Poetry Festival and Contest. See our festival and contest page for more details!
62nd Annual Contest (2018) Winners
Student Contest
One of PST's central values has been encouraging our young poets. Long-time West Tennessee member Frances Cowden has been instrumental in this outreach, and has been recognized by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies for her work. PST sponsors a contest open to all Tennessee students annually. Student categories are shown below:
- Elementary
- Middle School
- High School
- Eye Poems (need more information on Eye Poems? Click here. For an example -- Example #1 and Example #2.)
Students in each age group and the eye poem category have different due dates, so please check the application. Also note that there are very specific formatting requirements: winning poems are submitted to National contests and may be published.
2018/2019 Student Contest Winners
2018/2019 Student Contest Application
2017/2018 Student Contest Winners
2017/2018 Student Eye Poem Contest Winners - Elementary School
2017/2018 Student Eye Poem Contest Winners - Middle School
National Federation of State Poetry Societies
- PST also encourages its members to participate in contests sponsored by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS).
- The main NFSPS Contest is held annually, with submittals due March 15. Contests and rules may be found here. Note that long-time PST member Russell Strauss sponsors critiquing challenges to help PST members prepare for 6-7 of these contests. These challenges are posted in August and are ongoing from September-March.
- NFSPS's Blackberry Peach Award, offered in parallel with the annual NFSPS Contest, focuses on spoken word/oral/performance poetry.
- NFSPS also encourages members to participate in contests sponsored by our sister societies across the country. Links to these contests may be found here.
- NFSPS also sponsors the Manningham Trust Student Poetry Contest for middle and high school students. See the link here for further information.
