Champaign Urbana Poetry Group MTD Poems Free Poetry Contest 2016

April is National Poetry Month. To celebrate, the CU Poetry Group, in conjunction with the Champaign-Urbana MTD and Martin One Source, is holding a free Poetry Contest open to all Champaign County students and residents. The winning poem will be prominently displayed during the months of April, May, and June, on 75 CU MTD community buses running throughout Champaign, Urbana, and Savoy. The CU MTD averages over one million rides per month, which will offer great exposure to the winning poem. There is no fee to enter this contest.

Poetry Contest Guidelines

·        All poems must be original work of the poet and previously unpublished

·        Poems can be rhyming or non-rhyming in any format

·        Poems will be evaluated on originality and creativity

·        Due to space limitations, poems can be no more than 8 lines in length and must fit on an 11X17 poster. Short forms are welcome but not required

·        Content must be suitable for public display

·        English language only

·        Poets of any age can enter

·        Only one poem per entry, one entry per person

How to Enter

·        Submit your entry in an email sent to cupoetry@gmail.com with the subject line MTD Poems

·        If your poem is in a form that requires specific formatting, please attach it as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf. Otherwise, you may include it in the body of the email

·        Include your name, age, hometown or school, email address and phone number in the body and in the attachment, if using one

·        Entry deadline is March 11, 2016

Notification

·        Winner will be contacted within 5 days of entry deadline

·        Winner’s name and school or hometown may be used in promotional announcements

·        Winner will receive one copy of finished poster

·         Poets retain all copyrights to the submitted poems