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    • Home
    • Membership
    • Calendar
    • Contests
    • Contact
    • Support PSC
    • Historian Corner
    • Board
    • Mission
  • Home
  • Membership
  • Calendar
  • Contests
  • Contact
  • Support PSC
  • Historian Corner
  • Board
  • Mission

Poetry Society of Colorado - Contests

We believe that contests help foster artistic growth.
The Poetry Society of Colorado hosts a variety of member-only and open poetry contests throughout the year. 
See contest rules and guidelines below.

For a full list of monthly contest themes and deadlines for entry, please see our calendar page. 

Pay Contest Entry Fee

PSC now offers an online payment option to submit poems. Please select the number of poems you will be submitting below, then "add to cart" to pay using PayPal.


Don't forget to send your contest poems, using the criteria on this page, to the appropriate Contest Director by the published submission deadline.

Member-Only contests

Only members of PSC may submit to Member-Only Contests, which are held in September, November, January and March. Best of all First, Second, and Third Place winners of the Members-Only Contests of the year are eligible for the Daisie E. Robinson Sweepstakes which is announced each June.


Email submissions to:
jean@eccentricartsweb.com

Submissions may also be mailed to:
Jean Sidinger, 11973 E. Lake Circle, Greenwood Village, CO, 80111

Upcoming Contest Calendar

Don't forget to refer to the contest rules and submission information.

Open contests

Any adult poet may submit poems. 

Email submissions to: poetrypostoffice@gmail.com

Submissions may also be mailed directly to: 
Cheryl Wilkie, 8930 West 57th Avenue, Arvada, CO  80002

Upcoming contest calendar

Don't forget to refer to the contest rules and submission information!

Contest Rules

Contest Rules:

  • Contest themes are not to be used as poem titles.
  • Poets must be a member of PSC to submit to Member-Only contests.
  • Poets must be at least 18 years of age to submit to the Open Contests.
  • Entry fee: $5/poem. Each poet may enter up to three original poems. No previously published work will be accepted.
  • All submissions must arrive by published submissions dates. Plan accordingly.
  • If a pen name or pseudonym is used, the author must also submit his/her legal or alternative name or the entry will be disqualified.
  • A single poet can win no more than two cash prizes for each contest.
  • A contest may be cancelled if fewer than ten poems are entered.
  • Submission of entries presumes permission for the name of the winner to be posted on the PSC website AND for winning entries to be anthologized in the yearly Poets' Showcase unless the contest director is notified otherwise in writing.
  • Poem submission line limit: 40 lines (unless otherwise stated)


Upcoming contest themes

Submission Information

Submission Requirements:

  • Proper submission form must be followed to qualify for contests.
  • Refer to the Contest Guides, as necessary, for each Open contest
  • Submit two typed copies of each poem on 8½ x 11-inch paper.
  • Use a 1-inch margin on all sides for each submission, including artwork.
  • In upper left-hand corner of first copy put "Poetry Society of Colorado" on first line; put name of contest and date on second line; put theme and form on third line. No name or address should appear on this copy.
  • In upper left-hand corner of second copy put the same information as on the first copy. In the upper right-hand corner of the second copy put your name on the first line, and address on the second and third lines. If a pen name/pseudonym is used, include legal name.
  • Enclose a check for the entry fee of $5.00 for each poem entered made payable to: Poetry Society of Colorado.
  • Send two copies of all entries to the appropriate contest director. 
  • Entries must be postmarked or submitted at a Poetry Society meeting by the deadline date.
  • Winning entries, including honorable mentions, will be returned at a meeting or mailed to the winners. Winning and non-winning entries will be returned if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with sufficient first-class postage.


Upcoming contest themes

Contest "Musts & Shoulds"

Some contests will have a supplemental file that contains additional information regarding what the submission "must & should" contain. Click the options below to download the appropriate file(s).

PSC - October 2022 Open Contest - Musts and Shoulds (docx)Download

Prize Structure

Contest Prize Structure: (Unless otherwise stated)

  • 1st Place:  $25
  • 2nd Place: $15
  • 3rd Place:  $10

Past Contest Winners

Congratulations Contest Winners!

June 2022 - Open Contest

Theme: Time Gone By

1st Pl - What’s Between Us, Harriet Stratton

2nd Pl - After Grandma Died, Sarah Russell

3rd Pl - Petrification of the Past, Christina Grossman

1st HM - Her Real Name is Catherine, Charles RaKay

2nd HM - November, 1963 – Age 11, Melanie Eulberg

3rd HM - My Church in the Fifties, Marcel A. Duclos

 

May 2022 - Open Contest

Theme: Optional

1st Pl - Grackles, Nancy Cummins Bierman 

2nd Pl - On the Perception of Time, Olivia Rissland 

3rd Pl - Listing, 5/14, Melanie Clair Eulberg  

1st HM - Who Am I, Susan Harman

2ND HM - BloodLine: Trilogy Pt. 3, Trenton Bobbitt 

3rd HM - Doldrums, Nancy Cummins Bierman  


April 2022 - Open Contest

Theme: A Part of Me

1st Pl - Private War, Martin J. Postma 

2nd Pl - Distant Thoughts, Cheryl L. Wilkie 

3rd Pl - Son Rise, Daniel A. Martinez 

1st HM - Uncle Henry, Martin J. Postma 

2nd HM - A Future Good To Build, Martin J. Postma 

3rd HM - My Frizzy Childhood, Cheryl Miller 


March 2022 - Members-Only Contest

Theme: Man with a Beard

1st Pl - Buenos Dias, Jean E Sidinger

2nd Pl - On Taste, Replaced, Olivia Rissland

3rd Pl - (Title not published), Susan Rocco-McKeel

1st HM - Unshaven for Too Long in Blue Hill, Maine, Marcel Duclos

2nd HM - Words for My Brother, Daniel Martinez

3rd HM - Lesson Learned, Marcel Duclos 


February 2022 - Open Contest 

Theme: Open 

1st Place - Perspectives from Afar, Martin J. Postma  

2nd Place - Drawing from Memory, Harriet Stratton  

3rd Place - Getting Real, Marcel A. Duclos 

1st HM - Invisible – Inaudible, Nancy C. Bierman  

2nd HM - Winter Desserts, Gay Williford  

3rd HM - I ran the day into being, Nancy C. Bierman    


January 2022 - Members Only Contest

Theme: Only Once

1st Place - Clinician Remembers Her a Half Century Later, Marcel Duclos

2nd Place - Meeting Robert Kennedy, Melanie Eulberg

3rd Place - Being in the Moment, Cheryl Miller

1st HM - Expletives Deleted, Sarah Russell

2nd HM - The Fruit Vendor, Charles Rakay

3rd HM - The Times of Our Lives, Martin Postma


December 2021 - Open Contest

Theme:  Person or Place

1st Place - Casandra’s Hope, Charles RaKay

2nd Place - The Salmon Falls River Curse, Marcel A. Duclos

3rd Place - Norden, Germany 1943, Martin J. Postma

1st H.M. - The Leader’s Lonely Privilege, Martin J. Postma

2nd H.M. - Nikki Hiding, Charles RaKay

3rd H.M. - Felicia’s Fate, Gay Williford

 

November 2021 - Members Only Contest #2

Theme: Unlocked

1st Place - That Long, Irish Mornin, Charles Rakay  

2nd Place - Longing for Spring, Cheryl Miller  

3rd Place - Sometimes We Need to Read Between the Lines, Ann Klaiman

1st H.M. - Unchained, Tracy Mitchell

2nd H.M. -  *Haiku (untitled), Daniel Martinez  

3rd H.M. - RELEASED, Daniel Martinez  


October 2021 - Open Contest

Theme: Jabberwocky

1st Place - A DIZZY TIZZY, Cheryl Lee Wilkie

2nd Place - THE WATTNOTT, Daniel Angel Martinez

3rd Place - Struttin’ for the Champs, Nancy Cummins Bierman

1st H.M. - A Seltie Sea Shanty, Vaughn Neeld

2nd H.M. - Beware the Jabberbox, Martin J. Postma

3rd H.M. - Darcy, Robyn S. Kraus


September 2021 - Members Only Contest #1

Theme: Why Not ___?

1st Place - A Man with a Limp Asks, Marcel Duclos  

2nd Place - A Dark Chocolate Covered Carmel Wheedles, Cheryl Miller  

3rd Place - Flight of the Flutterby, Ann Klaiman

1st HM - Timeless Paths on Going, Cheryl Wilkie  

2nd HM - Street Carnival, Von Neeld

3rd HM - Poetry on All Fours, Daniel Martinez 


August 2021 - Open Contest - Leap and the Net Will Apear

1st Place -  Live Fearlessly, Vaughn Neeld

2nd Place - Margaret Mitchell Saved My Life, Sarah Russell 

3rd Place - Inspiration, Cheryl Wilkie

1st HM - I Do, Cheryl Miller

2nd HM - Teaching on Thin Ice, Gay Williford

3rd HM - Cliff Jumping, Holly Chichester                                  

Poetry Society of Colorado

Poetry Society of Colorado, P.O. Box 260205, Lakewood, CO 80226

(303) 809-6157

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