Announcing a statewide CWC poetry contest beginning on October 1, 2024.
AWARDS: First Place $100 • Second Place $50 • Third Place $25
Billy Collins, past Poet Laureate of the U.S.A writes in his book, Musical Tables, “Whenever I pick up a new book of poems. I flip through the pages, looking for small ones. Just as I might trust an abstract painter more if I knew he or she could draw a credible chicken, I have faith in poets who can go short.”
Here is an example of one of his poems from this book:
Falling Asleep
Walking backwards
into a dark forest,
I sweep my footprints
out of existence
with a large
;
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Submission period is October 1 to October 31st
Open to CWC members and non-members
$10 submission fee for CWC members, $20 for non-members
Maximum 8 lines per poem (please no Haiku or Tanka)
In addition to the 8 line poems, we will be accepting prose poetry/flash fiction of 75 words or less.
This contest invites participation from writers of all genres. Mixing prose poems and poetry in your
submission is welcome but not mandatory.
Maximum 3 poems can be submitted
Typeface: Times New Roman 12-point font
Format poems as Microsoft Word document
Multiple poems must be submitted in a single document
Each poem must have a title
Poems must be original work of author
Author name cannot appear in the Word Doc
JUDGES
Les Bernstein, head judge, is an award-winning poet and anthologist whose poems have appeared in journals and anthologies in the United States and internationally. Her full-length book, Loose Magic, was reviewed by the Los Angeles Review of Books and is available on Amazon.
Steve Trenam teaches poetry writing in the Santa Rosa Junior College Lifelong Learning Program. An Affront to Gravity was published in 2021 by Blue Light Press. His poems have appeared in a number of print and online publications.
Robin Gabbert has poems published in multiple local, state and international anthologies. Her chapbook Diary of a Mad Poet came out in 2020 and a book of ekphrastic poetry The Clandestine Life of Painting in poems in 2022. She is a frequent speaker on ekphrastic poetry.
For questions please contact Les Bernstein at lessieb13@yahoo.com