Complete the poem: ‘The Tyranny of Fear and Lies…’ The Society September 15, 2021 Culture, Poetry, Poetry Contests 14 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, From the Society, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 24 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 9 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 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 97 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 83 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 147 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 25 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 62 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 73 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 108 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 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 81 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...
The Society of Classical Poets 2021 Poetry Competition The Society September 1, 2020 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 10 Comments Winners Have Been Announced Here. "Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular." —Aristotle (384-322 BC),...
2021 High School Poetry Competition The Society September 1, 2020 From the Society, High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests "Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular." —Aristotle (384-322 BC), Poetics First Prize: $100....
2021 Poetry Translation Competition The Society September 1, 2020 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation 2 Comments "Poetry ... is a more philosophical and a higher thing than history: for poetry tends to express the universal, history the particular." —Aristotle (384-322 BC), Poetics First Prize: $100. Publication on...
The 17 Best Haiku of 2020 The Society August 15, 2020 Beauty, Culture, From the Society, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 8 Comments Winner and Runners-up of The Society of Classical Poets 2020 Haiku Competition Judged by Mike Bryant and Susan Jarvis Bryant See all entrants here. Thunder-bellied clouds Move slow over heathered...
Haiku Competition 2020 The Society July 2, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Haiku and Senryu, Poetry, Poetry Contests 401 Comments The winning haiku can be found here Write a haiku on any topic 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...
Poetry Challenge: ‘My country used to be… ‘ The Society May 14, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Poetry, Poetry Contests 51 Comments New York poet Joe Tessitore challenges poets to begin a poem with these words: My country used to be... Post your poem in the comments section below. (Poems should be...
Friends of Falun Gong 2020 Poetry Contest Winners Announced The Society May 13, 2020 Culture, Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Readings, Video 2 Comments FIRST PLACE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F96xN0VV7JU The Virus and the Cure by Rob Crisell One hundred years of tyranny, One hundred years of pain and lies. If communists of China win, The...
‘Briefs’: A New Poetry Form The Society March 23, 2020 Culture, Essays, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Poetry Forms 21 Comments by James A. Tweedie The form of the “brief” ordinarily consists of a couplet of anapestic tetrameter with the first soft beat of each line clipped off (x / xx / xx / xx /). The anapest, which functions...
Recommended Poetry Contests of 2020 The Society February 8, 2020 For Educators, From the Society, Poetry Contests 5 Comments Better Than Starbucks Sonnet Contest Accepting Submissions Beginning: October 1, 2020 Deadline: December 1, 2020 Top Prize: $100 Submission Fee: None Better Than Starbucks has confirmed that its...
The Best Poems of 2019 The Society February 1, 2020 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests 11 Comments The Best Poems of 2019: Winners of 8th Annual International SCP Poetry Competition Thank you to everyone who participated! It was an epic year with an incredible number of exceptional poets contributing their...
Winners of 2020 High School Poetry Competition Announced The Society February 1, 2020 High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests 2 Comments Thank you to every one who participated! The quality of the high school poems submitted this year was stunning. First Place ($100 Prize): Luke Hahn, twelfth grade, homeschooled in Waupun,...
Winners of 2020 Poetry Translation Competition Announced The Society February 1, 2020 Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation 1 Comment Thank you to everyone who participated! The quality of submitted translations continues to rise. First Place ($100 Prize): Margaret Coats, California Three Translations of the Poetry of Jean...
Write a Poem on One of These Images The Society January 19, 2020 Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Poetry, Poetry Contests 38 Comments The above photographs were taken and submitted by New York City poet Joe Tessitore. We invite readers to pick one of the images (or both) and write a poem. Post your poem in the comments section...
FoFG 2020 Poetry Contest: Adult, College, and High School Awards The Society January 15, 2020 Deconstructing Communism, Human Rights in China, Poetry, Poetry Contests 1 Comment Fight for Freedom. Write for Freedom. A Great Cause, Plus Over $1,200 in Prizes and No Submission Fee. Today, the communist government of China, the world's largest nation, is attacking the basic freedom...
Write a Poem on One of These Photographs The Society November 1, 2019 Beauty, Culture, Ekphrastic, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests 39 Comments The above photographs were taken and submitted by New York City poet Joe Tessitore. We invite readers to pick one of the images (or both) and write a poem. Post your poem in the comments section...
Homophonic Poetry Challenge The Society September 16, 2019 Culture, Humor, Poetry, Poetry Contests 88 Comments by Joe Tessitore and James A. Tweedie We are issuing a challenge to all poets to create poems that incorporate word homophones. Call it what you like, but we are calling it a Homophonic Poetry Challenge....
The Society of Classical Poets 2020 Poetry Competition The Society September 1, 2019 High School Submissions, Poetry, Poetry Contests 9 Comments Winners of the competition can be found here. "But with the true poet every thing is terse, touching, or brilliant. He gives the choicest thoughts in the choicest language. He illustrates them by...
2020 Poetry Translation Competition The Society September 1, 2019 From the Society, Poetry, Poetry Contests, Translation 3 Comments "But with the true poet every thing is terse, touching, or brilliant. He gives the choicest thoughts in the choicest language. He illustrates them by everything that he sees most striking in nature and art."...
