Prose-That’s-Really-a-Sonnet Poetry Challenge The Society November 22, 2022 Poetry, Poetry Contests 40 Comments . Construct a convincing paragraph of well-written, coherent prose that also happens to be a properly composed Shakespearean sonnet. This challenge and the below example come from poet James A....
Metrical Clerihew Poetry Challenge The Society October 9, 2022 Clerihew, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Satire 71 Comments . The clerihew is a relatively new poetry form introduced by Edmund Clerihew Bentley in 1905. It is usually a single quatrain of light verse rhyming aabb, without a standard meter. The first line usually ends...
Ekphrastic Poetry Challenge: Fireplaces The Society September 23, 2022 Ekphrastic, Poetry, Poetry Contests 17 Comments . This photo comes to us from Joshua C. Frank of Texas. Write an ekphrastic poem based on it and post it in the comments section...
The 2022 Society of Classical Poets International Poetry Competition The Society September 1, 2022 Poetry, Poetry Contests 4 Comments . "Yet, do thy worst old Time; despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young." ---William Shakespeare, Sonnet XIX First Prize: $2,000. Publication on the Society's website and...
The 2022 SCP International High School Poetry Competition The Society September 1, 2022 For Educators, High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests . “Yet, do thy worst old Time; despite thy wrong, My love shall in my verse ever live young.” —William Shakespeare, Sonnet XIX First Prize: $200. Publication in the Society's website and The Society of...
The 22 Best Haiku of 2022 The Society August 30, 2022 Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 27 Comments . The 22 Best Haiku of 2022 Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2022 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . COMPETITION WINNER . a...
Haiku Competition 2022 The Society June 29, 2022 Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 612 Comments . Winners announced HERE. WHO Anyone in the world, of any age or background, may participate. Among members of the Society of Classical Poets, everyone including Advisory Board members may participate, if...
Winners of the 2022 Friends of Falun Gong Poetry Contest Announced The Society May 13, 2022 Human Rights in China, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Readings 12 Comments . FIRST PLACE https://youtu.be/F3aTnHiJ4yU . Amends to the Innocent by Brian Yapko Dear Falun Gong, I owe you my amends. I heard but would not listen to the sighs Of battered souls I should have known as...
Winners of the 100 Days of Dante Poetry Contest The Society April 18, 2022 Acrostic, Epic, From the Society, High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Terza Rima 7 Comments Judges Angela Alaimo O’Donnell James Sale . OVERALL WINNER . Papa’s Commedia by Nicholas Walz That was hellish—the hulking chopper plunging Through the top: the battered fuselage yawed, Dipped, and...
Rhyme Two Random Words Poetry Challenge The Society March 23, 2022 Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests 42 Comments . Your poem can be serious, silly, or something in-between. List the “random words” you chose as your poem’s title and feel free to use whatever poetic form you’d like. Then post the poem in the...
2022 FoFG Poetry Competition The Society March 1, 2022 Human Rights in China, Poetry, Poetry Contests . Introduction Today, the communist government of China, the world’s largest nation, is attacking the basic freedom of thought and belief that have been a cornerstone of human civilization throughout...
Poetry Challenge: Write a Classic Movie-Inspired Poem The Society February 7, 2022 Culture, Poetry, Poetry Contests 93 Comments . Write a poem that casts a fresh eye over a classic movie---any form, any length, any mood. This challenge comes from the lovely Susan Jarvis Bryant. Her example is below. Post your movie-inspired poem in...
The Best Poems of 2021 The Society February 1, 2022 Best Poems, From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 16 Comments The Best Poems of 2021: Winners of the 10th Annual International SCP Poetry Competition JudgesJoseph S. SalemiJames SaleEvan Mantyk Past First Place Winners Susan Jarvis Bryant (2020)Joseph Charles MacKenzie...
Winners of 2022 High School Poetry Competition Announced The Society February 1, 2022 From the Society, High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests 1 Comment . First Place ($200 Prize) Alex Rubstein, 12th grade, homeschooled, Canton Aargau, Switzerland "Civis Romanus Sum" . Second Place Ellie Strano, 9th grade student homeschooled in Lexington,...
Winners of the 2022 SCP Poetry Translation Competition Announced The Society February 1, 2022 Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation 4 Comments . Judges Margaret Coats Evan Mantyk . First Place ($100) Talbot Hook, Connecticut "Mourning the Dead" by Li Qingzhao; "Bamboo-Grove Pavilion" by Wang Wei . Second Place Joseph Greene, California "Solitude"...
100 Days of Dante Poetry Contest The Society December 3, 2021 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 2 Comments 100 Days of Dante Poetry Contest Sponsored by the Calvin Center for Faith & Writing with the Society of Classical Poets . . Introduction 100 Days of Dante is a collaborative resource aimed at educating...
Poetry Contests Accepting Rhyming and Metered Poems The Society November 4, 2021 Poetry, Poetry Contests 10 Comments by Evan Mantyk A strange phenomenon in recent years, probably dating back to the mid 20th century and with roots in Whitman, is an aversion toward rhyme and meter in poetry among poetry establishments...
Poetry Challenge: Write a Tetra-Pentameter Poem The Society October 2, 2021 Poetry, Poetry Contests 54 Comments Write a rhyming poem that works as either ten lines of tetrameter or eight lines of pentameter. Post it in the comments section below. This challenge comes from poet Paul Erlandson who learned of it some time...
Complete the poem: ‘The Tyranny of Fear and Lies…’ The Society September 15, 2021 Culture, Poetry, Poetry Contests 42 Comments This challenge comes from New York poet Joe Tessitore. He asks you to use the following couplet in a poem. Post your version in the comments section below: . How very much do I despise The tyranny of fear...
The 21 Best Haiku of 2021 The Society September 5, 2021 Beauty, Best Poems, From the Society, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 42 Comments Winner and Runners-up of the Society of Classical Poets 2021 Haiku Competition Judged by Margaret Coats (see her remarks below) See all entrants here. . WINNER . Fog enshrouds the nightWoven in the heavy...
The Society of Classical Poets 2022 Poetry Competition The Society September 1, 2021 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 16 Comments . WINNERS ANNOUNCED HERE. "Select, all ye who write, a subject fit, A subject not too mighty for your wit! Before you lay your shoulders to the wheel, Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness...
2022 High School Poetry Competition The Society September 1, 2021 From the Society, High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests 2 Comments “Select, all ye who write, a subject fit, A subject not too mighty for your wit! Before you lay your shoulders to the wheel, Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!” —Horace (65-8...
2022 Poetry Translation Competition The Society September 1, 2021 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation “Select, all ye who write, a subject fit, A subject not too mighty for your wit! Before you lay your shoulders to the wheel, Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!” —Horace (65-8...
Bedtime Prayer Poetry Challenge The Society August 26, 2021 Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests 104 Comments . This challenge comes form poet James A. Tweedie: Perhaps the most familiar of all formal, English-language poems is the classic 18th century bedtime prayer that reads: Now I lay me down to sleepI pray the...
What Rhymes with Orange? Poetry Challenge The Society August 11, 2021 Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests 107 Comments . Write a poem rhyming the word "orange" with something else. Post it in the comments below. This challenge comes from Cheryl Corey, who provided the below poem as inspiration: . Nothing Rhymes With...
Haiku Competition 2021 The Society July 28, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 807 Comments . Winners announced here. Write a haiku and post it in the comments section below. The haiku must adhere to the traditional parameters of a haiku to qualify and may be deleted if it does not. See...
Winners of the First-Liners Poetry Contest The Society July 25, 2021 Beauty, Culture, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests 30 Comments . ⬙ Judged by Cynthia Erlandson See all entrants here. ⬙ . FIRST PLACE WINNER ($100) . A Slight Deviation from the Canterbury Tales after Chaucer’s Prologue and other poems by Brian Yapko, Sante Fe, New...
Turn a Famous Poem into a Limerick: Poetry Challenge The Society July 11, 2021 Humor, Limerick, Poetry, Poetry Contests 151 Comments . Choose a famous poem and write it in limerick form, putting the title of the original poem at the top. Please fit your chosen poem into one limerick (five lines) only. See "How to Write a Limerick." Post...
Poetry Challenge: A ‘Raven’-like Poem on the Death of Edgar Allan Poe The Society June 24, 2021 Culture, Poetry, Poetry Contests 28 Comments . Edgar Allan Poe was known for strange and mysterious tales, in poetry and prose. Perhaps fittingly, the circumstances surrounding his premature death at the age of 40 were also strange and mysterious. (Read...
First-Liners Poetry Contest The Society June 17, 2021 Poetry, Poetry Contests 92 Comments . . Winners Announced Here. . CONTEST: Begin with a favorite line from another poem, (or other literature) and "take off" on it in a different way. . PRIZE: $100. (You must have Paypal if you live...
Winners of the Friends of Falun Gong Poetry Contest Announced The Society May 13, 2021 Human Rights in China, Poetry, Poetry Contests 12 Comments . Congratulations to the winners! Readings of the top three winning poems have been published here: . FIRST PLACE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69i-IfOt9-k Connected by Sasha Palmer I’m Russian-born, live...
Split Nursery Rhyme Poetry Challenge The Society May 7, 2021 Culture, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests 67 Comments . Split a line from a nursery rhyme and use the halves to open and close a poem. Post yours in the comments section below. This challenge comes from Joe Tessitore, who offers the below two examples: . "The...
National Poetry Month Challenge: What Is Poetry? The Society April 16, 2021 Culture, Poetry, Poetry Contests 74 Comments April is National Poetry Month. On this occasion, take words about poetry from a famous poet, or anyone else you deem fitting, and turn them into a quatrain (four-line poem). Below are four examples from poet...
Poetry Challenge: Write a Sonnet in Iambic Monometer The Society March 2, 2021 Poetry, Poetry Contests, Poetry Forms 120 Comments . This challenge was conceived by Paul A. Freeman after reading a sonnet in iambic monometer by James A. Tweedie, "Allergies." Mr. Freeman's example is below. Make your own and post it in the comments...
The Best Poems of 2020 The Society February 1, 2021 Best Poems, From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 28 Comments The Best Poems of 2020: Winners of the 9th Annual International SCP Poetry Competition JudgesJoseph S. SalemiJames SaleEvan Mantyk Past First Place Winners Joseph Charles MacKenzie (2019) Adam Sedia (2018)...
Winners of 2021 High School Poetry Competition Announced The Society February 1, 2021 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 5 Comments The talent this year has been astounding. Thank you to every high school student who participated. You are the future of literature and are leading the way in rebuilding our civilization on the foundation of...
Winners of 2021 Poetry Translation Competition Announced The Society February 1, 2021 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation 4 Comments . Judges Margaret Coats Evan Mantyk . First Place ($100) Francesca Leader, Virginia "The Iroha Poem" by Kūkai (空海) (774–835) . Second Place Steven Monte, New York “Di pensier in pensier, di monte in...
Turn a Joke into a Poem—Poetry Challenge The Society December 8, 2020 Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests 84 Comments Poet Susan Jarvis Bryant challenges her fellow poets to adapt a favorite joke into a poem with meter and rhyme. Enjoy her examples and then post your own joke-turned-poem into the comments section...
Winners of the ‘Napa Valley Winery’ Ekphrastic Poetry Contest The Society November 15, 2020 Beauty, Ekphrastic, Poetry, Poetry Contests 13 Comments Thank you to everyone who participated! This was a great effort for a meaningful purpose: the recent burning down of the Chateau Boswell winery in Napa Valley. Congratulations to the winners. Bravo! ---Evan...
Ekphrastic Contest: Write a Poem on This Photograph The Society October 8, 2020 Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry Contests, The Environment 148 Comments See the winners here. Above is a recent photograph of Chateau Boswell, a winery, vineyard, and tasting room located in California. It has suffered terribly because of the recent “Glass Fire” in Napa...
