The Massillon Public Library invites all local bards to submit their original poems to be entered into our Fifteenth Annual Poetry Contest!
Writers are invited to submit up to three original and family-friendly poems. Winners will be chosen in three categories: Grades 3-8, Grades 9-12, and Adult (18+). Poems will be judged by local published poet and full-time faculty member at Stark State College of Technology, Duane Matthew Dodson. A $50 gift card will be awarded to the winner of each category, courtesy of the Junior Friends of the Massillon Public Library.
Pieces must be family-friendly. In collaboration with the Massillon Museum’s 2023 Big Read selection of Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu, writers have the option of fitting their work to the themes of literature, the featured Big Read title, or books in general. This is optional. The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. Through The Big Read, communities come together to read, discuss, and celebrate literature.
Poems must be submitted with an entry form (signed by a parent or guardian if under 18 years of age) in person OR submitted online. Submissions will not be returned. The Massillon Public Library may reproduce your piece on its website or other social media; however, copyright is retained by the author. Please do not submit your only copy as it will not be returned to you!
Pieces can be submitted at any of the following locations: the Main Library Children’s or Reference Desks; the main Circulation Desks at the Belloni (Brewster) or Askren (Navarre) Branch; to the staff aboard the MPL Bookmobile; or online.
Entry deadline is March 31 by library closing time in person OR by 11:59 p.m. if submitting online.
For more information, contact Laura Klein, Children’s Services and Special Projects Manager, at 330-832-9831, x319.
The Massillon Public Library is proud to be an independent library system since 1899! We partner with other libraries statewide to fulfill your needs. Please visit our Bookmobile, as well as our branch libraries in Navarre and Brewster. Thank you for your support!