Kent County Annual Poetry Contest

40th Annual Poetry Contest

The Dyer-Ives Foundation is sponsoring the 40th 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TO ENTER: Submit no more than five (per poet) original, unpublished poems in any style or length according to the following guidelines: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unpublished poems to:

40th Annual Kent County Poetry Competition
(Specify appropriate division on envelope)
PO Box 6879
Grand Rapids, MI 49516

Submissions accepted February 1st through March 1, 2008

National Judge: Alicia Ostriker

The national judge this year is major American poet and critic, Alicia Ostriker. She is author of eleven volumes of poetry, most recently No Heaven (2005). Ostriker has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation to name a few.

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.