HW Library's 3rd Annual Teen Poetry Contest

Hamilton-Wenham Public Library's 3rd Annual Teen Poetry Contest
2013 Theme: Nature and/or Animals
Open to teens in grades 6 to 12, who are residents of Essex County in Massachusetts.

Prize winning categories:

• Best Entry Grades 6-8
• Best Entry Grades 9-12
• Director's Choice Award
• Second Place Grades 6-8
• Second Place Grades 9-12
• Honorable Mentions

Finalists will be notified by phone or email on or about May 10th.
Poetry Contest Reception will be Thursday, May, 16, 2013.

Rules:

Please read the following rules carefully, poems that do not adhere to rules may be disqualified.

• Poem's author must be a resident of Essex County, Massachusetts.
• Poem entries must be original work.
• Maximum of 3 poems per author may be entered.
• Each poem must have a title.
• An entry form must be filled out for EACH poem submitted.

Theme:

• Poem must incorporate the theme of nature and/or animals.

(Judges will deduct points from poems that do not have nature or animals as the subject or theme of the poem.)

• All poems must be submitted on or before midnight April 30, 2013.
• All winners and honorable mentions are required to read or recite their poem aloud at the Poetry Contest Reception - May 16, 2013.  
• A poem may be disqualified if you are not able to attend the reception. Please do not submit a poem if you will not be able to attend the reception.

Poetry Contest Reception:

Thursday, May 16, 2013, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
The featured speaker at the 2013 Poetry Contest Reception will be Dan Sklar.  
At Endicott College, Mr. Sklar teaches his students to love language and to write in an original, natural, and spontaneous way. Recent publications include Harvard Review, New York Quarterly, Ibbetson Street Press, and The Art of the One Act. His play, "Lycanthropy" was performed at the Boston Theater Marathon in May 2012, and was reviewed in the Boston Globe, May 22, 2012.  Following Mr. Sklar, poetry contest winners will read or recite their poem aloud.

There are lots of special kid-friendly events going on in honor of National Poetry Month, but families can celebrate the art of poetry year-round at the Hamilton Wenham Library.
This North Shore gem has an awesome Children's Room where kids can read classic and contemporary works from Shakespeare to Seuss.