For over thirty years, the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University has aimed to bring poetry to everyday lives by fostering meaningful conversations and engaging diverse audiences around the world, empowering individuals to share their voice across divisions of language, age, and culture. The list below contains the current calls, contests, scholarships, and surveys for which we are currently accepting submissions.
A total of $3,000 in scholarships will be awarded for the best poetry submitted by Kent State University undergraduates.
1st Place - $1,500
2nd Place - $1,000
3rd Place - $500
- These awards are nonrenewable. Undergraduates may reapply.
- The competition is open to any undergraduate currently enrolled at Kent State University.
- The scholarship awards are to Kent State University only.
- All entries must be original and unpublished.
- Each entrant may submit one poem only.
- The poem should be no more than 100 lines long.
- The poet’s name should not appear on the poem.
- In the cover letter section of this form, poets must write their name, address, email and telephone number.
- Entries must be submitted between February 1, 2022, and April 15, 2022.
WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED in MAY, 2022.
Wick Juniors Summer Camp:
July 12-July 16, 2023
For writers entering grades 3 through 12.
Registration fee: $325.00*
The Wick Juniors Summer Camp is offered in partnership with the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Students entering grades 3 through 12 will experience one day with the Wick Poetry Center teachers at Kent State University followed by a three-night, four-day stay at the Environmental Education Center (EEC) in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.
Through guided hikes, pond dips, and more, the young writers will explore how the natural world influences our writing. A culminating reading will be held on the grounds of the CVNP on Sunday. The registration fee covers all expenses, including meals and lodging during the days spent at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Additionally, the young writers will receive a t-shirt, notebook, and pencils.
Spaces are limited.
A full camp itinerary is forthcoming. If you have any questions or concerns, please email: wickjuniors@kent.edu
This prize is offered annually to a poet who has not previously published a full-length collection of poems. The prize awards the winner with $2,500 and publication of their first full-length book of poetry by the Kent State University Press. The winner and the competition's judge will give a reading together on the Kent State campus. The winning collection will be selected by Marilyn Chin.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS:
- The competition is open to poets writing in English who have not yet published a full-length collection of poems (a volume of 50 or more pages published in an edition of 500 or more copies).
- There is a $27 reading fee.
- Submissions must be between 50 and 80 pages, with no more than one poem included on a page.
- The poet's name or identifying information is not to appear on the manuscript. Include just one title page with the title only. List all other contact information in the "cover letter" box of the submissions manager. Entries are judged anonymously. If any identifying information is found in the manuscript, including journal publication information or identifying dedications or notes, the manuscript will be disqualified.
- Do not include an acknowledgements page. If an acknowledgements page is included in the manuscript, the manuscript will be disqualified.
- The manuscript may be submitted simultaneously to other publishers, but the poet must notify the Wick Poetry Center immediately if the manuscript is accepted for publication elsewhere.
- Manuscripts must be submitted between February 1, 2023, and May 1, 2023.
- A winner will be announced in early fall, 2023.