Calling all teen poets! Starting January 3, 2025 the library is accepting entries from local teens in grades 6 through 12 for our Annual Teen Poetry Contest. The contest will close for entries on Friday, March 7. Finalists will be invited to read their poems at our Poetry Reading and Awards Ceremony and winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 30.
The Beverly Public Library offers an annual poetry contest for middle and high school students who live, or attend school, in Beverly. After the poems are checked to see if they meet the guidelines, they are submitted to a panel of judges, who are local published poets. The judges are given about a month to read the entries and select finalists. The Teen librarian contacts the finalists (and their teachers) and invites everyone to the ceremony in mid-April.
The winning poems are published in a booklet that is distributed to the students and their families, as well as kept in the library’s permanent collection. Cash prizes will be awarded in two age categories, grades 6-8 and grades 9-12. All finalists receive cash prizes, in varying levels based on their placement of Honorable Mention, Third, Second, and First Prize.
To qualify the following criteria must be met:
You must live in Beverly, MA and/or attend a school located in Beverly, MA and be in grade 6 through 12.
Each student is welcome to submit up to, but no more than three (3) poems.
Each poem must:
- Be original work
- Have a title. Title must be listed in the Poem Title field.
- Each poem must be entered separately online. (Please contact Katie if an online application is not possible.)
- Be submitted between Friday, January 3 and Friday, March 7.
For more information, contact Katie Nelson at 978-921-6062.
Thanks to the Friends of the Beverly Public Library whose generosity makes this contest possible.