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Poems That Ate Our Ears

“Icicles are/Like swords/Shiny and sharp/And trying/To defeat/The snow”

Wyatt Worden / Jennings Elementary / Quincy

Longest running youth poetry contest in Southwest Michigan.

There is no entry fee for this contest.

The deadline is April 1.

Poems That Ate Our Ears 2011 Cover

The Poems That Ate Our Ears 2024 Contest Rules & Submission Guidelines

1. Poems can be any style and on any topic, but no longer than twenty lines.

2. Students may submit up to three poems in any language. Provide an English copy.

3. Do not send your only copy of a poem (poems will not be returned).

4. Categories: 1 (grades K–3), 2 (grades 4–6), 3 (grades 7–9), 4 (grades 10–12).

 

Submission Guidelines

 

Email Submissions:

1. Poems should be attached in a single doc, docx, or PDF file. If it's more efficient to send digital images of the poems, send images as a .jpg file.

2. Include with each poem the author's full name, grade and category, name of school, email address, home address, and home phone number. Teachers: you may send all submissions from your class(es) in one file but please be sure to include all identifying information with each poem.

3. Email poems to friendsofpoetrykzoo@gmail.com

4. Deadline: April 1, 2024. All entries must be received by April 1.

Paper Submissions (snail mail)

1. Each poem must be on a separate sheet of paper. On the back of each poem, print the author’s full name, grade and category, name of school, home address, and home phone number.

2. For a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE), with appropriate postage affixed, along with your poems. No poems will be returned.

3. Send entries to:      

THE POEMS THAT ATE OUR EARS

1815 Greenlawn Ave.

Kalamazoo, MI 49006

4. Deadline: April 1, 2024. All entries must be received or postmarked by April 1.

 

Winning poems will be published in a book and distributed locally. An awards ceremony and reading is held in September at the Kalamazoo Public Library. Winning poems may be used in a promotional capacity.

For more information contact:

Scott Bade, President

Friends of Poetry, Inc.

1815 Greenlawn Ave.

Kalamazoo, MI 49006

269-567-0803 friendsofpoetrykzoo@gmail.com

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