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First Prize:
$2,000. Publication on the Society’s website and Journal.
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Submission Fee:
$20 (The fee comes with a free subscription to our monthly e-Newsletter.)
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Submit:
One to three poems on any topic. Altogether, the poems should total 108 lines or less. First click here to pay the submission fee, then email as a Word file or in the email body to [email protected]. Put “Poetry Contest Submission” in the subject line of the email. Poems must contain meter (beginners and students may simply count syllables). Rhyme and other traditional techniques are encouraged as well, but not required. (To learn how to write poetry with meter, see a brief beginner’s guide on common iambic meter here or a more elaborate beginner’s guide to many kinds of meter here. See a guide to poetry forms here.) You may alternatively mail a check made out to the Society of Classical Poets to Evan Mantyk, Society of Classical Poets. Email [email protected] for mailing address.
You may pay up to $60 and send in up to three separate submissions.
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Deadline:
December 31, 2025, 11:59 p.m. EST. Winners announced February 1, 2026 on our e-Newsletter and on the Society’s homepage. (Annual submission dates Sept. 1 – Dec. 31.)
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High School Prize:
$200. See details here.
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Judges:
C.B. Anderson
Susan Jarvis Bryant
Margaret Coats
Patricia Rogers Crozier
Evan Mantyk
Reid McGrath
Joseph S. Salemi
Adam Sedia
James A. Tweedie
Brian Yapko
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Read about the Competition Judges here.
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Who May Participate?
Anyone from any country of any background. If you are outside the United States, you would need to have a PayPal account to receive the prize money should you win First Place.
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Additional Details
Poems should be written in 2025. They may be previously published. Simultaneous submissions are accepted.
Past First Place winners and the Society’s executive staff are prohibited from participating.
You do not have to be a Member of the Society to participate.
You will retain ownership of your submitted poetry. By submitting it to the Society for publication or for inclusion in the contest, should it rank among winners or receive an honorable mention, you give the Society permission to publish it online on this website, in the Society of Classical Poets Journal, and in publications promoting the SCP’s mission or this annual contest, but the SCP would not be able to sell your individual poem on its own or have any further rights over it beyond these purposes. You could publish it anywhere else or sell it to any publication as desired.
You can enter up to three submissions, each containing one to three poems, not exceeding 108 lines in total per submission. Each submission requires the standard entry fee of $20.
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Past Winners
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
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Poetry Writing Resources
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- A Simple Guide to Forms and Examples from the Society of Classical Poets
- “Freeware Prosody” by Expansive Poetry Online
- How to Write Classical Poetry by the Society of Classical Poets
- “The Hard Edges of a Poem” by Joseph S. Salemi
- The Prosody Handbook: A Guide to Poetic Form by Robert Beum and Karl Shapiro
- Writing Metrical Poetry by William Baer
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Are poems already published on this site considered for the prize if resubmitted with the entry fee?
Yes, as long as it was published in 2025 here or anywhere else.
Hi. Are the poems judged anonymously? And can the judges know the other poems come from the same person when they are judging?
Thank you.
Dear D. McMahon,
No, poems are not judged anonymously. The poems may be previously published within the last year.
Regards,
Evan Mantyk
SCP Editor
Hi. I would really appreciate an answer about this. If the poems are judged anonymously? And if the Judges can see any other poems that you submit and if they know if another poem is submitted by the same person?
And I would also like to know if the winner is for a single poem, or is the individual judge on the other poems also.
I would be very grateful if you could clarify the judging process.
Thank you very much.
Dear D. McMahon,
As mentioned above, poems are not judged anonymously. The poems may be previously published within the last year. They should be written in the last year. Because traditional English verse is not as common, we want to put up as few barriers as possible for people submitting, which means allowing previously published works; that makes anonymous judging impossible since some poems would be public already. We want to spur the creation of great new works in traditional English verse. That said, the second round voting is done without the poets names attached to poems, but there is no guarantee of anonymity.
The judging goes through a first round where work is reviewed by me. Those that make it to the second round are viewed by all the other judges. Each judge has a set number of votes on individual poems, not groups. As the Round 1 judge I have no votes in Round 2, but I break ties. The votes determine the winning poem and rankings of other poems.
Regards,
Evan Mantyk
SCP Editor
Hi Evan.
Thank you very much for the clarification you gave.
I appreciate it.
Regards,
David