The NFSPS conducts poetry contests in the spring
of each year Given below are descriptions of the contests These contests
have a March 15, 2024,
postmark for their deadline.
Note: contests 4, 8, 11, 14, 26, 28, 30,
35, 42, 43, and 50 are NFSPS *Members Only
Contest Rules
Print or Download 2024 Brochure
2023
Winners
2024 ANNUAL CONTESTS AND GUIDELINES
4th Convention ~ 2024 Annual Contest
1. NFSPS Founders Award -
to honor
Mary B. Wall.
Sponsor: NFSPS, Inc.
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 100.
1st Prize: $1,000. 2nd Prize: $500. 3rd Prize: $250.
Entry fee: per poem - members ($5),non-members ($10).
Limit: 4 poems per contestant.
Sponsor: NFSPS, Inc.
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 100.
1st Prize: $1,000. 2nd Prize: $500. 3rd Prize: $250.
Entry fee: per poem - members ($5),non-members ($10).
Limit: 4 poems per contestant.
2. The
Margo Award
Sponsor: her friends, in memory of Margo LaGattuta.
Subject: Finding Your Way Home, figuratively or literally.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 50.
1st Prize: $200. 2nd Prize: $100. 3rd Prize: $50.
3.
Social Critique Poetry AwardSponsor: her friends, in memory of Margo LaGattuta.
Subject: Finding Your Way Home, figuratively or literally.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 50.
1st Prize: $200. 2nd Prize: $100. 3rd Prize: $50.
Sponsor: Randy K. Schwartz.
Subject: A poem that expresses a yearning for society to advance beyontd he oppression of humans by humans.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 75.
1st Prize: $200. 2nd Prize: $100. 3rd Prize: $50.
4. Donald Stodghill Memorial Award *(members only)
Sponsor: Pat Stodghill
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $200. 2nd Prize: $100. 3rd Prize: $50.
5. Winners' Circle Award
Sponsor: Sue Chambers, Pat Stodghill, Diane Glancy, previous prize winners of the NFSPS
Founders Award
Subject: Any.
Form: Any. Line
Limit: 80.
1st Prize: $115. 2nd Prize: $85. 3rd Prize: $60.
6. NFSPS Board Award
Sponsor: NFSPS Executive and Appointive Boards.
Subject: Any.
Form: Ballade.
Line Limit: 50.
1st Prize: $175. 2nd Prize: $100. 3rd Prize: $50.
7. Stone Gathering Award
Sponsor: Danielle Dufy Literary.
Subject: Any.
Form: Prose Poems.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $125. 2nd Prize: $75. 3rd Prize: $50.
8. Poetry Society of Texas Award *(members only)
Sponsor: Poetry Society of Texas
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $125. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $25.
9. Jim Barton, Bard of the Pines Award
Sponsor: South Arkansas Poets of the Pines. In Memory of Jim Barton, past President of NFSPS and cheerleader to all writers, who saw wonder and poetry everywhere in nature.
Subject: Wind in the Pines.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $100. 2nd Prize: $60. 3rd Prize: $40.
10. Lucille Morgan Wilson Memorial Award
Sponsor: Julie Cummings and Carla Jordan
Subject: Gardens.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $100. 2nd Prize: $60. 3rd Prize: $40.
11. Al Laster Memorial Award *(members only)
Sponsor: Diana Gagne.
Subject: an Ekphrastic poem—written in response to viewing a painting, drawing,photograph, sculpture, or other piece of visual art.
Form: Any. Line
Limit: 50.
1st Prize: $100. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $50.
12. The Countee Cullen Poetry Prize
Sponsors: M. Palowski Moore and Toby Palowski To provide a space for poetry that reflects
the experiences & perspectives of the many facets of the2SLGBTQIA+ Community.
Subject: 2SLGBTQIA+Perspectives.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 50.
1st Prize: $100. 2nd Prize: $60. 3rd Prize: $40.
13. Arizona State Poetry Society Award
Sponsor: Arizona State Poetry Society (ASPS)
Subject: Magical Connections.
Form: Any.
Line limit: 40.
1st Prize: $125. 2nd Prize: $20. 3rd Prize: $15.
14. Jim Barton Memorial Award *(members only)
Sponsor: Poets Roundtable of Arkansas
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $75. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $25.
15. Alabama State Poetry Society Award
Sponsor: Alabama State Poetry Society.
Subject:Breaking the Rules.
Form: Choose a form but break it—modify an existing form to make it your own.Note form and modifications on entry.
Line Limit: 50.
1st Prize: $75. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $25.
16. Land of Enchantment Award
Sponsor: New Mexico State Poetry Society. To honor the memory of Susan Paquet.
Subject: A
poem related to "borders," real or imagined.
Form: Any.
Line limit: 40.
1st Prize: $75. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $25.
17. Poet's Work Award
Sponsors: Paul Ford and Marie Andrews.
Subject: Life as Other.
Form: Persona poem.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $75. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $25.
18. The Listening Poem Award
Sponsor: Linda Eve Diamond
Subject: Listening.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $75. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $25.
19. Mildred Cummings Memorial Award
Sponsor: Friends of Mildred Cummings
Subject: Family Meals.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $75. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $25.
20. Power of Women Award
Sponsor: Sue Chambers and Christina Flaugher.
Subject: the Power of Women.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $70. 2nd Prize: $50. 3rd Prize: $20.
21. The Virginia Corrie-Cozart Memorial Award
Sponsor: Her friends in the Peregrine Writers. Honoring the author of "A Mutable and Wavering Reflection".
Subject: Something observed and/or overheard.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $60. 2nd Prize: $40. 3rd Prize: $20.
22. Mildred Vorpahl Baass Remembrance Award *(members-only)
Sponsor: Nancy Baass, in loving memory of her wonderful mother, a truly beautiful lady, inside and out, who served two terms as Poet Laureate of Texas.
Subject: Cats - their endearinghabits, intelligence, loyalty, beauty, etc. (no reference to cruelty or abuse).
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $60. 2nd Prize: $40. 3rd Prize: $20.
23. League of Minnesota Poets Award
Sponsor: the League of Minnesota Poets. In Memory of John Rezmerski.
Subject: Any.
Form: Free Verse.
Line Limit: 45.
1st Prize: $60. 2nd Prize: $40. 3rd Prize: $20.
24. Jessica C. Saunders Memorial Award
Sponsor: Shavano Poets Society of Colorado.
Subject: Any.
Form: Villanelle.
Line Limit: (follow form)
1st Prize: $60. 2nd Prize: $40. 3rd Prize: $20.
25. Poetry Society of Indiana Award
Sponsor: Poetry Society of Indiana
Subject: "A Perfect Storm."
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
26. Nevada Poetry Society Award *(members only)
Sponsor: Nevada Poetry Society.
Subject: Humorous.
Form: Shakespearean sonnet
Line Limit: follow the form.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
27. William Stafford Memorial Award
Sponsor: Oregon Poetry Association and Friendsof William Stafford. In memory of William Stafford,Oregon's late Poet Laureate and twice Honorary Chancellor of NFSPS.
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
28. Columbine Poets of Colorado Award *(members only).
Sponsor: Columbine Poets of Colorado
Subject: Any. Form: Any.
Line Limit: 50.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
29. Morton D. Prouty & Elsie S. Prouty Memorial Award
Sponsor: daughters, Catherine P. Horn and Carol P. Ostberg and their families. In memory of Morton D. Prouty, Jr. who served as NFSPS Treasurer andPoet Laureate of Alabama, and Elsie S. Prouty.
Subject: a Nature poem.
Form: Any. Line
Limit: 40.1st Prize:
$50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
30. Loretta Diane Walker Memorial Award *(members-only).
Sponsor: Poetry Society of Texas.
Subject: Any. Form:
Any.
Line Limit: 28.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
31. Utah State Poetry Society Award
Sponsor: Utah State Poetry Society
Subject: Double Vision, two views of the samething.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 45.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
32. Illinois State Poetry Society Award
Sponsor: Illinois State Poetry Society
Subject: Rivers.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
33. The Robbie Award
Sponsor: Joyce Wilson.
Subject: Loss of a Child (not necessarily by death).
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
34. Iowa Poetry Association Award
Sponsor: Iowa Poetry Association.
Subject: Poetry for Children.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 50
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20
.
35. Wallace Stevens Memorial Award *(members only)
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Poetry Society, Inc.
Subject: Any.
Form: Rondeau.
Line Limit: (follow form)
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
36. Poetry Society of Oklahoma Award
Sponsor: Poetry Society of Oklahoma.
Subject: Any.
Form: Trimeric.
Line Limit:13 (follow form).
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.
37. Ohio Award
Sponsor: Ohio Poetry Association.
Subject:
Any. Form:
Any. Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $25. 3rd Prize: $15.
38. WyoPoets Award
Sponsor: WyoPoets of Wyoming.
Subject: Wyoming or the West.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40
1st Prize: $40. 2nd Prize: $25. 3rd Prize: $15.
39. Florida State Poets Association, Inc. Award
Sponsor: Florida State Poets Association, Inc.
Subject: a Celebration of Florida History or Culture, or any other Florida topic, historic, or contemporary.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $35. 2nd Prize: $25. 3rd Prize: $15.
40. Poetry Society of Michigan Award
Sponsor: Poetry Society of Michigan.
Subject: Any.
Form: Free Verse.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $35. 2nd Prize: $25. 3rd Prize: $15.
41. Mississippi Poetry Society Award
Sponsor: Mississippi Poetry Society
Subject: Any.
Form: Sonnet (include sonnet typeon entry).
Line Limit: (follow form).
1st Prize: $35. 2nd Prize: $25. 3rd Prize: $15.
42. Poetry Society of Tennessee Award *(members only).
Sponsor: Poetry Society of Tennessee.In honor of Ann Carolyn Cates.
Subject: Humorous poem.
Form: Rhymed & Metered.
Line Limit: 16.
1st Prize: $30. 2nd Prize: $25. 3rd Prize: $15
43. Miriam S. Strauss Memorial Award *(members only).
Sponsor: Russell H. Strauss.
Subject: peaceful event in American history before the year 2000. No war poems.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 10 - 40.
1st Prize: $30. 2nd Prize: $25. 3rd Prize: $15.
44. Jesse Stuart Memorial Award
Sponsor: Kentucky State Poetry Society.
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $20. 3rd Prize: $15.
45. Barbara Stevens Memorial Award
Sponsor: South Dakota State Poetry Society.
Subject: Any Serious Theme.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 12.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $20. 3rd Prize: $15.
46. Missouri State Poetry Society Award
Sponsored by the Missouri State Poetry Society.
Subject: The Show Me State.
Form: Any.
Line limit: 40.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $20. 3rd Prize: $15.
47. Save Our Earth Award
Sponsor: Martha H. Balph. In memory of David F. Balph.
Subject: Environmental Issues.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $20. 3rd Prize: $15.
48. Massachusetts State Poetry Society Award
Sponsor: Massachusetts State Poetry Society.
Subject: Any.
Form: Any. Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $20. 3rd Prize: $15.
49. Maine Poets Society Award
Sponsor: Maine Poets Society, fostering poetry since 1936.
Subject: the Face of Climate Change in Nature.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 40.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $20. 3rd Prize: $15.
50. The Poets Northwest Award *(members only)
Sponsor: The Poets Northwest, a chapter of thePoetry Society of Texas, celebrating 37 years of
encouraging and inspiring poets in their craft.
Subject: The City.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 36.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $20. 3rd Prize: $15.
Student Award: Grades 9 –12
Sponsor: Julie Cummings (CO), Catherine L'Herisson (TX).
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 32.
1st Prize: $50. 2nd Prize: $30. 3rd Prize: $20.7 Honorable Mentions: $5 each.
Poetry in the Classroom Award: Grades 6 –8
Sponsor: New Mexico State Poetry Society.
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 32.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $15. 3rd Prize: $10.
Poetry in the Classroom Award: Grades 3 –5
Sponsor: New Mexico State Poetry Society.
Subject: Any.
Form: Any.
Line Limit: 32.
1st Prize: $25. 2nd Prize: $15. 3rd Prize: $10.
No entry fee is required for these student contests. Open only to students in grades 3 thru 12. Include your grade with name and home mailing address on the second copy only(per contest rule 1), or enter via Submittable. One poem per student. Mail entries to 2024 Contest Chair.