The 67th Chicagoland
Poetry Contest is Closed.

Submission period has ended

July 15–August 31, 2023
(Email entries only; must be received by midnight CDT on 8/31.)

Poetry Contest Categories & Rules:

Click to view/download a complete list of categories and rules (PDF) ➞

Contest Rules & Categories below

Contest closed, stay tuned for winners list

A list of winners’ names and their poem titles will be posted on this page after all winners have been notified. All winning poets will be invited to participate in an online reading in the fall.

To join Poets & Patrons visit our membership page ➞

Contest Rules, Submission Guidelines & Categories

Contest Rules:

Poems must be in English, unpublished in print or electronically (even on your own website or blog), and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. In addition, poems must not have won previous cash awards from Poets & Patrons. Please, no unusual fonts or graphics/photos. You may not enter the same poem in more than one category. Limit of 3 poems per category.

Line limit: 60 lines (counting epigraph, section numbers, and blank lines between stanzas, if any). Miniature poem: 12 lines (including spaces between lines). Poems that exceed the line limits will not be considered.

Submission Guidelines:
Email only; no paper entries accepted. Submit 7/15 – 8/31.

How to Prepare Your Poems for Submission
Save each poem as a Word document or a PDF with the category description and poem title as the document name (for example, Humorous-Johnny Carson). Do Not put your name or any other identification on each poem.

How to Email Your Poems
Email your poems to Maggie Kennedy, Contest Chair, at maggiev@ameritech.net. Please follow these instructions:

1. In the email subject line, use the words “Contest” and your last name in the subject line (for example, Contest-Smith).

2. In the body of your email, note the following:
• Your name, mailing address, preferred email, and preferred phone number
• Whether or not you are currently a Poets & Patrons member
• A list of the categories you are submitting poems to and the titles of the poems you are submitting for each category. For example: 1-Free Verse: Mountain Cabin, 3-Nature: Blackbird, Lake Breeze, and Ant Hill
• The total fee amount you are paying via the Poets & Patrons website.

3. Attach each of your poems to your submission email. Double check that you have followed all instructions before sending. If you are concerned that you are attaching too many documents to one email, feel free to break them down into two or three emails, following the same instructions for each email outlined above.

4. If you have any questions, feel free to email Maggie Kennedy, Contest Chair, at maggiev@ameritech.net.

Notes About Winners:

A list of winners’ names and their poem titles will be posted on the Poets & Patrons website after all winners have been notified. All winning poets will be invited to participate in an online reading in the fall.

Winning poets retain all rights. Winning poems will not be published, with one exception. The Nature Conservancy-Illinois (nature.org/Illinois) has offered to feature the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winning poems in the “Endangered Animals and Plants” (11th) category on its Instagram and Facebook channels. It will be up to the winning poets if they want to have their poems pushed out on social media by The Nature Conservancy. The social media posts are intended to help draw attention to the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act. Because space is limited on social media platforms, the winning poems may be excerpted versus published in full, depending on the length of the poem.

Notes About Judging:

All judging is done anonymously; no judges are affiliated with Poets & Patrons. The decisions of judges are final.

Categories

Note: All categories are open to all unless otherwise noted.