Pulitzer Center Fighting Words Poetry Contest 2022 for high school students
What is the application deadline?
May 15, 2022, 11:59 p.m. EST
Tell me about the Pulitzer Center Fighting Words Poetry Contest:
How can poetry be an effective response to current events and unknown stories? How can we use poetry to connect global issues to our local and personal contexts? Students are encouraged to explore these questions and have their voices heard in their entries for the Fighting Words Poetry Contest.
What type of scholarship is this?
Competition
Who can apply for the Pulitzer Center Fighting Words Poetry Contest?
Any current K-12 student in the United States or abroad can participate. Students can write in any language and are welcome to submit multilingual poems. Judges will have proficiency in reading English and Spanish.
How are candidates selected?
Poems will be judged according to the following criteria:
1. Success of the poem on its own terms (craft, linguistic style, emotion, etc.)
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Questions to ask yourself:
- What response(s) do I want to evoke in my reader? Have I chosen the best words to evoke this response?
- Did I use poetic devices (eg repetition, imagery, metaphor), or choose not to use them, to achieve a specific effect?
2. Successful inclusion of lines from a Pulitzer Center story
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Questions to ask yourself:
- Have I chosen lines that add something important to the poem?
- Are the lines integrated into the poem smoothly, so that their presence feels natural?
3. Thoughtful choice of perspective and respectful treatment of the subject
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Questions to ask yourself:
- What is my relationship with the story I chose? How can I establish a personal connection?
- Why am I writing from my chosen point of view? What other perspectives could I choose, and how would those choices change the poem?
- If the subjects of the story I chose read my poem, how might they feel?
Pulitzer Center Fighting Words Poetry Contest 2022 for high school students
Which countries are eligible?
US and International
How many rewards will be awarded?
4
What is the benefit of the Pulitzer Center Fighting Words Poetry Contest?
- 1st place: $300, publication on the Pulitzer Center website
- 2nd place: $200, publication on the Pulitzer Center website
- 3rd place: $100, publication on the Pulitzer Center website
- Finalists: $75, publication on the Pulitzer Center website
How do I enter the Pulitzer Center Fighting Words Poetry Contest?
Go to the Pulitzer Center website and select a story (see the “Suggested Stories” tab above for a curated list). Write a poem of any shape and length that includes story lines. Include an epigraph in the following format: With lines from “STORY TITLE” by JOURNALIST NAME, a Pulitzer Center reporting project.
SUBMIT YOUR POEM USING THIS SUBMISSION FORM!
The form will ask you for basic information and you will upload your poem to the form as an attachment. You can also upload an audio or video file of yourself performing your poem; this file is optional, but the text file is required.
If you have any questions about these guidelines or if the registration form is not accessible to you, please email [email protected].
