2021-22 Student Poetry Contest

   Welcome!
Niki Fragala Barnes, Chair

INTRODUCTION: We are pleased to re-introduce our Student Poetry Contest for the 2021-2022 school year. We are excited to welcome our student poets via partner schools and organizations to share original poems.

CONTEST DETAILS:
Entry Fee: None
Qualifications: Florida students Grades 6 through 12
Or, enrolled in a Florida undergraduate program
**This includes public, private, home, and virtual schools.**

NEW THIS YEAR:
We are thrilled to initiate the inaugural category for undergraduate poets, enrolled in a Florida college or university. This also includes public, private, home, and virtual schools.
Also new this year: We will also be accepting digital submissions.

ENTRY RULES:

  1. Deadline: 3 December 2021, by 11:59pm EST
  2. Entries may be submitted as early as 15 Oct. 2021.
  3. One poem per student.
  4. The poem must be an original work by the student, written in English.
  5. Type the poem in 12 pt. font (Times New Roman preferred), single-spaced, for ease in judging and scanning for publication. For this year, please do NOT illustrate in any manner.
  6. Your poem must include a separate title, unless the poem is a haiku (the first line being its title).
  7. Poems may be rhymed or unrhymed, in any form, including free verse.
  8. Poems must be no longer than 30 lines, all on one page and no more than 50 characters and spaces per line. Best typed with left alignment.
  9. Subject and language must be appropriate for reading by young students who may receive a copy of the anthology in which winning poems are printed.
  10. Theme is the poet’s choice.

CONTEST TIMELINE:

  1. Deadline: 3 December 2021, by 11:59pm EST
  2. Entries may be submitted as early as 15 Oct. 2021
  3. Winners will be notified after 7 March 2022.
  4. Winners will be posted online on the FSPA website in March 2022.
  5. Manningham winners will be notified by May 2022.
  6. Winners will be published in Cadence in Fall 2022.
  7. New contest opens in September 2022.

HOW TO SUBMIT:
Students may submit poems electronically via email: FSPAstudentcontest@gmail.com.
Write this in the SUBJECT line: FSPA Poem [Division]
Include your DIVISION:

    1. College (Undergraduate)
    2. Senior (Grades 9-12)
    3. Junior (Grades 6-8)

Paper entries can be mailed to:
Nikki Fragala Barnes, FSPA Student Contest Chair
1030 Fairway Drive
Winter Park, FL 32792

You must submit TWO copies of your work. One that has is ONLY the poem and level with no other identifying information. This means: in the top corner write JUNIOR for Grades 6-8, SENIOR for Grades 9-12, COLLEGE for Undergraduate students. Include a second copy of your poem that has your name, address, phone, email, grade, school and school address, school district, teacher name. These may be all one electronic file or two separate documents.

CERTIFICATION OF ORIGINAL WORK:

On the second copy only, students must certify the originality of the poem, which cannot be copied in whole or part from any other author’s work, including poems posted on the internet. The certification statement must appear on the copy with identifying information in order to be accepted into the contest. Without it, the entry is invalid and disqualified.

Please write this statement at the bottom of the second copy. This is the same certification required by the Manningham contest and should be worded as follows:

“I, _(write your full name)__, certify that the entire poem _____(title)________, is my own original work.”

Note: Any poems that do not follow the above rules, format, and certification may be disqualified. Submission to this contest should be done with the understanding that announcement of the winners’ names, teachers, and schools may appear on the FSPA website and in its newsletter.

JUDGES:

Well-qualified out-of-state judges will be selected to judge all poems.

AWARDS + PRIZES:

Lee Bennett Hopkins, the noted poet and anthologist, provided a generous donation which will allow cash prizes for all first, second and third-place winners in our student contest as well as FSPA membership for 2022.

First place winners in each grade level will be recipients of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for Young People.

Cash prizes in each grade level are as follows:
1st place (the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award): $25
2nd place: $15
3rd place: $10

All winners will also receive copies of FSPA’s anthology, Cadence, in which their winning poems will be published. All winners, including honorable mentions, will receive award certificates.

Winning poems will be entered in the prestigious National Federation of State Poetry Societies’ Manningham Trust Student Poetry Contest, where they will compete for more cash awards with prize-winning poems from other states.

FINAL NOTES:

Interested in serving as a volunteer?
Email: FSPAstudentcontest@gmail.com and include VOLUNTEER in the Subject line.

CONTACT US:

Nikki Fragala Barnes, FSPA Student Poetry Contest
Mail: 1030 Fairway Drive, Winter Park, FL 32792-5104
Email: FSPAstudentcontest@gmail.com

*Poems submitted electronically on or before 11:59pm EST on 3 December will be accepted.*

ABOUT THE STUDENT CONTEST CHAIR:

Nikki Fragala Barnes, member of the FSPA + Orlando Area Poets since 2015, earned her MFA in Poetry in 2018, and is an instructor teaching Creative Writing and Poetry Workshop at the University of Central Florida while completing a PhD in Texts and Technology. Barnes’ creative practice incorporates experimental poetry and site-sensitive participatory installations with arts activism. [@bynikkibarnes]

ABOUT LEE BENNETT HOPKINS:

FSPA is most grateful for Lee Bennett Hopkins’ support of our youth programs. We are pleased to announce that the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award for Young People will be awarded to first-place winners in each grade level of our Student Poetry Contest. Mr. Hopkins (1938-2019) was an award-winning poet and has also been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s most prolific anthologist of poetry for children, with more than 120 titles to his credit. He has received numerous awards for his work and his support of poetry for the younger generation. In 2017 he was inducted into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame.

Mr. Hopkins lived in Cape Coral, Florida, was a nominee for Florida Poet Laureate, and an Honorary FSPA Chancellor. We invite you to learn more about his lifework to encourage young poets on his website: www.leebennetthopkins.com.

ABOUT FSPA, FLORIDA STATE POETS ASSOCIATION:

Florida State Poets Association, Inc. was founded in October 1974, affiliated with NFSPS, and chartered by the State of Florida in July 1979. FSPA began with one chartered chapter in Deland and has grown to have ten chapters throughout the state.

Florida State Poets Association (FSPA) has three main objectives: to secure a fuller public recognition of the art of poetry, to stimulate a finer and more intelligent appreciation of poetry, and to provide opportunities to study and practice writing and reading poetry.

FSPA publications consist of an annual printed anthology and a bi-monthly newsletter, Of Poets & Poetry, which is published in print and online. This is the organization’s official newsletter that publishes chapter reports, highlights of meetings, feature stories, and other relevant information. The annual anthology, Cadence, solicits poems from members in the spring.

Learn more at: https://www.floridastatepoetsassociation.org/.