Teen Poetry Contest

Additional Information

Only poems submitted May 1–July 15, 2023 will be eligible. Winners will be notified no later than July 22nd, 2023.

Eligibility: 

• Submissions are open to all teens living in Salt Lake County who will be entering 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grade in Fall 2023.
• Children of contest judges and City Library employees are not eligible. 
• Only one entry per person. 
• You must be the sole author of your submission (no co-authored poems). 
• Teens may consult with parents, teachers, and/or peers on their work. The Community Writing Center is available to all participants!
• Poems must be submitted digitally through this form, no later than July 15, 2023.
• Any failure to adhere to these contest rules may result in disqualification. 
• No purchase or donation is necessary. 

Entry Guidelines and File Formats

• Poems must be submitted digitally through this form. 
• Digitally typed files will be accepted in the following file types:

Images (JPG, PNG, GIF) 

Writing (PDF, ePUB)

• In addition to the required text version, entrants are also encouraged to submit audio or video recordings of themselves reading their poem. An audio or video recording is not required, but will be accepted in the following file types:

Audio (mp3) Video (mp4, mov).

Contest Theme and Content Guidelines

The theme for this year’s contest is “All Together Now.” Take this opportunity to reflect on friendship, unity, and kindness. Have you experienced a spectacular or disappointing friendship? What do you envision when you think of unity? How do you see (or want to see) kindness manifested in the world? Take the prompt in whatever direction you like. Poems can be autobiographical or fictional in nature. All forms of poetry will be accepted.

Poem Formatting 

• All forms of poetry will be accepted.
• Typed text must be clearly legible.
• Typed text should be in 12pt font.
• Poems should not exceed two pages.
• Non-English poems should be translated and the translated text should stay within the word count limit.
• Invented (non-standard) spelling is accepted, but the intended words and their meanings should be clear.
• Submissions should include the poem title, the full name of the author, and the grade they will be entering in Fall 2023.
• All poem elements should be original. Copyrighted names and images are not allowed.
• All poems must be original, new creations. If the student is writing an homage to another work, that work must be mentioned, e.g. “in the style of title by author’s name.” 

Word Count 

• Poems should be two pages or less. 
• The word count limit is 500 words. You can check your word count by copy/pasting your poem into wordcounter.net.
• The word count includes “a,” “an,” and “the” but not the words on non-poem pages, such as the title page. 

Judging 

Poems will be reviewed by a panel of judges that includes librarians, teachers, and other community members. Winning poems will be original, will make use of imagery, sound and rhythm, and will communicate the contest theme.

Prizes 

• There are two categories: 9th-10th graders, and 11th-12th grades.
• The 1st place winner from the 9th-10th grade category, and the 1st place winner from the 11th-12th grade category will each receive a $100 prize. 
• 2nd place winners from the two categories will receive a $50 prize. 
• All winners will have the opportunity to share their work on Saturday, July 29th at 1PM at the Marmalade Branch.