Kent County Annual Poetry Contest

41st Annual Poetry Contest

The Dyer-Ives Foundation is sponsoring the 41st annual Kent County Poetry Competition. Preliminary judging will be done by local college professors and poets of note from the greater Grand Rapids area.

Submissions

TO ENTER: Submit no more than five (per poet) original, unpublished poems in any style or length according to the following guidelines:

• Entries must be typed and submitted in triplicate (photocopies are acceptable) with the appropriate division indicated on each copy.
• Name, address, telephone number, email (if available) and division should be written on one 3 x 5 card and submitted with the entries.
• The poet's name must not appear on the entry itself

If you're a Kent County Resident, submit up to five original
unpublished poems to:

41st Annual Kent County Poetry Competition
(Specify appropriate division on envelope)
PO Box 1748
Grand Rapids, MI 49501

Submissions accepted February 1st through March 1, 2009

National Judge: Janine Pommy Vega

This year's national judge is Janine Pommy Vega, author of numerous volumes of poetry, most recently the career-spanning Mag Dogs of Trieste (2005) and The Green Piano (2008). Janine is renowned as a feminist pioneer, working to improve the lives of women in prison through Incisions/Arts and the PEN Prison Writing Committee. She is an important writer in the American Beat movement, and is famed across Europe and the Middle East; her manuscripts are archived at the University of Delaware Special Collections Library.

Awards will be as follows:

First Division:

• 1st Place: $100
• 2nd Place: $75
• 3rd Place: $50
• Open to all Kent County students in grades K-8.

Second Division:

• 1st Place: $125
• 2nd Place: $100
• 3rd Place: $75
• Open to any student of a high school or undergraduate college within Kent County, including Grand Valley State University. Residents of Kent County who attend school elsewhere are also eligible.

Third Division:

• 1st Place: $150
• 2nd Place: $125
• 3rd Place: $100
• Open to graduate students and other adult Kent County residents.