Gaithersburg Book Festival High School Poetry Contest Seeks Entries with Pandemic-related
The Gaithersburg Book Festival is proud to announce that submissions are now being accepted for its annual high school poetry contest. Students are asked to focus their works for the 2021 contest on themes of isolation or the building of community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Winners will be unveiled during the 2021 Gaithersburg Book Festival.
“This has been a year where we are witnessing both the worst and the best in our society,” said Jud Ashman, Festival chair and Mayor of the City of Gaithersburg. “During the pandemic, our young people have had to be adaptive, resilient, creative, and patient. We think these concepts will find amazing expression through the art of poetry.”
To participate, students must be enrolled in grades 9-12 at a public or private school, or be in a homeschool program, for the 2020-2021 school year. Entrants must reside in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia.
Poems must be the original work of the student and must not have been previously published online or in print. By submitting work to the contest, students grant the Gaithersburg Book Festival a non-exclusive license to publish, distribute, transmit and exhibit the poem, and any portions thereof, via any medium without financial compensation.
Poems must be submitted electronically via the Gaithersburg Book Festival Website by midnight ET on Thursday, February 18, 2021.
Up to 12 poems will be selected as finalists and posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website prior to the Festival. Finalists will also be asked to record a video of themselves reading their poems, which will also be posted on the Festival website.
First- and second-place winners will receive $250 and $100, respectively. Third place and fan favorite winners will receive $50 and $25, respectively. Prizes will be announced during the 2021 Festival. Plans for the Festival are pending and will be contingent upon the public health situation. Updates will be provided on the Festival website.
Complete rules and details about submission formats and file naming protocols can be found on the poetry contest webpage. Questions can be emailed to writingcontest@
