Put on your poet's hat and gear up for the Library's 4th annual Themed Teen Poetry Contest which begins on February 1.
The Library's teen advisory board, the Teen Think Tank, chose "Technology" as the theme for 2014, from a list of themes submitted at the 2013 poetry reception.
Two cash prize winning categories:
grades 6-8, and grades 9-12.
Honorable mentions will be awarded.
Contest ends on April 30, 2014.
Finalists will be notified by phone or email on or about May 8th.
View past winning poems here.
Please read the contest rules carefully.
RULES:
Contest is open to teens in grades 6 to 12.
Poem's author must be a resident of Essex County, in Massachusetts.
Poem entries must be original work.
Maximum of 3 poems per author may be entered.
THEME: Poem must incorporate the theme of: technology. (Judges will deduct points from poems that do not have technology as a theme.)
All poems must be submitted on or before midnight April 30, 2014.
Each poem must have a title.
An entry form must be filled out for EACH poem submitted.
All winners and honorable mentions are required to read or recite their poem aloud at the Poetry Contest Reception on Thursday, May 15, 2014, at 7 PM. Your poem will be disqualified if you are not able to attend the reception. Please do not submit a poem if you will not be able to attend the reception. Winning poems will be published on the Library's Informed Teens blog and in local newspaper(s).
Poetry Contest Reception
Thursday, May 15, 7 PM to 9 PM
This year's featured speaker will be John Perrault.
Mr. Perrault is the author of Jefferson’s Dream (Hobblebush Books, 2009); Here Comes the Old Man Now (Oyster River Press, 2005); and The Ballad of Louis Wagner (Peter Randall Publisher, 2003). His poems have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, Commonweal, Poet Lore, the Salmon Poetry Anthology Dogs Singing, and elsewhere. He is a New England Foundation for the Arts and NH State Council on the Arts touring artist, and a presenter for the NH Humanities Council. John was a co‐recipient of the Rosalie Boyle/Norma Farber Award, 2008, from the New England Poetry Club; a finalist in the 2007 Comstock Review Poetry Contest; and a past recipient of the Virginia Prize from The Lyric. He was poet laureate of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 2003‐2005. Selected ballads and poems may be sampled at www.johnperrault.com.
