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America's 250th
The Great American Poetry Competition: A Celebration of Values
Calling all poets, high school-aged and up: Share your ‘well-versed’ patriotic-themed stanzas for America’s 250th anniversary.
The largest patriotic poetry contest to be held in decades, if not ever, is going on right now. There is only a month left to submit. The deadline is July 4. Poets can receive prizes in several categories totaling nearly $5,000.
The Great American Poetry Competition (GAPC) is an official event of the White House’s Freedom 250 initiative, celebrating America’s 250th anniversary. Hosted by the Society of Classical Poets, it calls on writers to submit poems reflecting on the American spirit, history, heroes, and enduring ideals.
It is a competition that is unique in the current cultural landscape. In contrast to almost all other poetry contests which favor formless free verse, this one focuses on traditional craftsmanship in the form of rhyme and meter. It also emphasizes the positive events and ideals that went into the country’s founding and have made America what it is.
This second point needs to be emphasized, as it has become fashionable to bash America in poetry contests. Organizations like the Poetry Foundation and the Academy of American Poets—once pillars of the literary community—have been subject to elite capture by Marxist intellectuals. They espouse un-American communist ideals and offer enormous cash prizes to those who parrot these ersatz virtues. Often these prizes are not held as competitions in the democratic sense of the term, where people submit poems to be judged. Instead, they are awarded by committees to poets who are already a part of their elite club.
The Society of Classical Poets seeks to break that mold. Most of those who submit to our online journal are not “professional” poets from academic backgrounds, but people with normal jobs who write verse in their spare time. Likewise, anyone may enter the GAPC. Entrants retain ownership of their work. Winning poems and finalists receive publication in Society of Classical Poets print and online venues, giving poets the opportunity to reach a wide audience beyond the contest itself.
What to Submit
The GAPC judges are looking for poems that combine formal craftsmanship with an uplifting vision of America. Successful entries should be:
• Metrical: Meter need not be perfectly regular, but it should be apparent.
Competently written: Poems should have strong grammar and use effective literary devices.
• Celebratory: Above all, winning poems should maintain a commemorative tone that honors America, its people, achievements, or challenges overcome.
• Positive: Poems should generally present an optimistic outlook, avoiding a predominantly critical or negative approach except where satire is used appropriately.
• Virtuous: Special consideration will be given to works that highlight civic virtues such as patriotism, gratitude, good citizenship, courage, and strength of character.
• Accessible: Poems should possess the common touch. They should be engaging and immediately understandable to ordinary readers and listeners, without requiring specialized knowledge to appreciate their meaning.
Cash Prizes for Different Genres
Numerous prizes are being offered in several genres of traditional poetry. The genres are considered loosely, being optional rather than mandatory. Poems should not exceed 130 lines. …
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/the-great-american-poetry-competition-a-celebration-of-values-6041518
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The Henry Longfellow Ode and Ballad Grand Prize: $1,500
This award seeks to capture the spirit of the most famous poet in 19th-century America, author of “Paul Revere’s Ride.” Odes are poems in praise of something. Their specific forms have varied over the millennia, and competition judges are not requiring any specific structure. Ballads are narrative poems with a bouncy rhythm, often about a heroic theme.
A famous example is “Horatius at the Bridge,” by Thomas Macaulay, about the legendary hero who singlehandedly defended Rome from an invading Etruscan army. The most famous stanza reads:
Then out spake brave Horatius,
The Captain of the Gate:
“To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods,
Heroic verse of this caliber simply isn’t written anymore. The Society of Classical Poets would love to see more of it. For purposes of this competition, any poem in praise of something will be considered for this category.
The Ogden Nash Satire and Light Verse Prize: $1,000
This award is named in honor of one of America’s greatest comic poets. Nash was famous for his witty epigrams, as in “Song of the Open Road”:
I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps, unless the billboards fall,
I’ll never see a tree at all.
There are many different forms of light verse, and entrants are encouraged to write in any they like. In terms of tone, it is important that the humor be gentle rather than savage. Making fun of American values will not win any points.
The Robert Frost Sonnet Prize: $500
Named after the most famous American poet of the 20th century, this prize seeks to capture the spirit of “The Road Not Taken.” For purposes of this competition, any 14-line poem qualifies as a sonnet.
Five finalist prizes: $250 each
Freedom 250 High School Prize: $500
We expect that most entrants to this category will be in high school, but there are no specific requirements for age or education level. Anyone under the age of 21 may participate. You must include your grade, school name, and the city of your school on the submission.
As the United States marks two-and-a-half centuries since the Declaration of Independence, Americans are increasingly reflecting on the nation’s achievements, struggles, ideals, and future. Poetry has always played a role in such moments. From the Revolutionary verses of Philip Freneau to the patriotic poems of Longfellow and the democratic vision of Walt Whitman, poets have helped generations understand what America means. This competition invites today’s writers to continue that tradition.
See the GAPC page on the Society of Classical Poets website for more rules on how to submit.