The Poetry Society of Tennessee invites student poets to participate in their annual Student Poetry Contest, open to all Tennessee students entering second through twelfth grade going forward.
The competition has two categories: written poetry and eye poems. Winning poems will be sent to national competitions and may be published.
The competition categories for forms of written poetry include the following:
- Elementary (2nd to 5th grade) – Any form
- College (6th to 8th grade) — Free verse
- High School (Grades 9-12) – Free Verse
The Eye Poems category is for students in grades two through 12. An eye poem is a poetic collage of visual and verbal images. Students combine images of magazine pages with words, phrases and clauses on a single page to create a free verse poem. The objective is to create an atmosphere or an inspiration. Learn more and see examples poetrytennessee.org/eye-poems.html.
Mr. Seth Grindstaff is this year’s Student Competition Coordinator; he informs that the deadlines for submitting competitions vary according to category and school levels, from December 2021 to February 2022. The PST student competition brochure, available at poetrytennessee.org/student-contests.html, outlines the details of the contest, including specific deadlines, formatting requirements, and methods of submission.
One of the central values of PST is to encourage young poets. As a teacher in Sullivan County, Tennessee, Grindstaff urges students, teachers and parents to get involved: “We often ask language arts teachers to submit their students’ work after a class unit on poetry. However, the contest is also a great opportunity for homeschooling organizations and clubs to explore poetry. We also accept individual submissions from students.
For more information about the company and the competition, visit www.poetrysocietytennessee.com. Questions regarding the competition can be directed to Mr. Grindstaff at seth.grindstaff@sullivank12.net. Questions regarding PST can be directed to Lori Goetz at poetrytennessee@gmail.com.
