ALABAMA STATE POETRY SOCIETY

2026 SPRING CONTESTS

 

1. ALABAMA STATE POETRY SOCIETY SPRING CONTEST (Sponsored by ASPS)

*THIS CATEGORY IS OPEN TO PAID MEMBERS ONLY

 

$75, $50, $25, $10 and 3 Honorable Mentions in order of merit

 

Any form, Any subject, No line limit

 

 

2. THE CHRISTOPHER WARE MEMORIAL CONTEST (Sponsored by Dargan Ware)

 

$70, $50, $30, and Honorable Mentions at judge’s discretion

Subject: Our National Parks (either collectively or any National Parks Service unit individually)

 

Any form, Line limit 100

 

 

3. THE BKC AWARD (Sponsored by Jessica Temple in memory of Bettye K. Cannizzo)

 

$50, $30 $20, and Honorable Mentions at judge's discretion

 

Subject: Surprises from Mother NatureAny form, Line limit 40

 

 

4. DEEP SOUTH LORE (Sponsored by Dave Schjott)

 

$50, $30, $20, and Honorable Mentions at judge's discretion

 

Subject: Deep South Lore Any Form, Line limit 40

 

 

5. EXTENDED METAPHOR (Sponsored by Donna Geise)

 

$50, $30, $20, and Honorable Mentions at judge's discretion

 

Subject: Select an animal as subject; however, the meaning should be metaphorical.

Example: "The Groundhog" by Richard Eberhart.

Any form, but no rhymes, Line limit 40

 

6. POETRY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE (Sponsored by Mike Turner)

 

$50, $30, $20 and 2 Honorable Mentions

 

Subject: What price Freedom?

Any form, Line limit 30

 

 

7. SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL AWARD (Sponsored by Mike Wahl)

 

$45, $30, $20, and 3 Honorable Mentions at $5 each

 

Subject: In honor of America’s 250th birthday, write a “found poem” using the Declaration of Independence (DoI) as the source document. Use this site: https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript

Here, you may copy and paste the entire document into your word processor for further manipulations, as required below.

 

Form: found poem – The DoI is a long document, and you may want to read through it first to reacquaint yourself with the material that is available. All chosen words/letters for your poem must be in the order that they appear in the DoI. You may wish to use a “strike-through” feature initially to choose your selections and later delete all unneeded text. You may add or delete spaces as needed, and you may make past tense features and plural word endings if those letters can be selected in the upcoming textual order. Remember, there is a lot of raw material, and many words are often repeated, so your restraints are minimal.

 

Line limit 40 lines, 55 characters max per line

 

 

8. THE NORMAN SHAVIN RENAISSANCE AWARD (Sponsored by Julianza Shavin in memoryof sponsor's father, Nornan Shavin (1926-1988), writer, flutist, civil rights activist, Scrabble-master.)

 

$35, $25, $15 and 3 Honorable Mentions

 

Subject: Poem to do with music or civil rights, embedding at least 6 musical and/or civil rightsreferences. Can combine themes.

Form: Free Verse Elegy or Ode, Line limit 36

 

 

9. THE KAREN PEACE STROKE OF GENIUS AWARD (Sponsored by Julianza Shavin in memory of friend, poet, painter, and, most passionately, composer/conductor, Karen Peace (1961-2023), who had a stroke in 2010 which impaired her speech, though she could still sing in her amazing operatic voice.)

 

$35, $25, $15 and 3 Honorable Mentions

 

Subject: Poem inspired by any of her compositions at: https://www.soundclick.com/kepeaceusa

If you cannot access her compositions, write a poem embedding at least 6 musical and/or poetic terms.

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Form: Free Verse Elegy or Ode, Line limit 36

 

 

10. MOM'S ADVICE I DIDN'T TAKE (Sponsored by Nancy LaChance)

 

$35, $20, $10, and 1 Honorable Mention $5

 

Subject: Mom's advice I didn't take

Form: Rhyming verse, Line limit: 24

 

 

11. THE KAREN EDWARDS AND PENNY HARDESTY MEMORIAL AWARD (Sponsored by Kirk and Jerri Hardesty)

 

$25, $15, $10 and 3 Honorable Mentions

 

Subject: Mothers or Mother figures

Any form, Line limit 40

 

 

12. EKPHRASTIC POEM (Sponsored by Jodi Adamson)

 

*One Prize which will be the Book Nook on which poems are based.

 

* MUST BE PRESENT AT MEETING TO WIN PRIZE

 

Subject: Ekphrastic poem based on photos of the book nook at this link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fTXS3iDngQny7s3w8

 

Any form, No line limit

 

 

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RULES!

(We gotta have rules, otherwise there is chaos.)

 

1. Deadline for entry is April 17, 2026. Entries must be either postmarked or received online by that date.

 

2. Entry Fees:ASPS Members: $1 per poem. Non-Members: $5 per poem.

*No limit on number of poems whether member or non-member!*

 

3. More than one poem can be submitted in any category, but a poet may only win one awardper category.

 

4. Sponsors may not enter any poem(s) in any category they are sponsoring.

 

5. Judges may not enter any poem(s) in any category they are judging.

 

6. As per ASPS bylaws, the second vice president (contest chair) may not enter poems in any category.

 

7. The same poem may not be entered into more than one category.

 

8. Poems cannot have won a monetary award in a previous ASPS contest.

 

9. Poems cannot have been previously published, including online.

 

10. The line limit for each category is as stated in the contest. Line count does not includetitle and one blank line after title, but all other lines, including epigraph, all printed lines of poem, AND any blank lines within body of poem should be counted. When a fixed form poem is required by the category, line limit will allow for stanza breaks.

 

11. Please DO NOT DOUBLE SPACE POEMS, single space only, except for stanza breaks.

 

12. Please do not include any artwork with poems unless requested in category.

 

13. No poems will be published, but winners will be invited to read at the awardspresentation.

 

14. Please do not mail submissions by any method that requires a signature.

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Submission Guidelines

 

By Mail:

 

Submit 2 copies of each poem on 8 ½ by 11 paper using a plain font only.

 

On each copy, put category name and number in the upper left-hand corner.

 

On one copy only, put your name, address, e-mail, and “member” or “non-member” in the upper right-hand corner. (Address labels are acceptable.)

 

** Postmark deadline is April 17, 2026 **

 

Submissions should be mailed to:

 

Jerri Hardesty, ASPS Contest Chair

1830 Marvel Rd.

Brierfield, AL 35035

 

Online:

 

Entries can be submitted at alpoets.org until midnight (Central time) on ** April 17, 2026. **

 

Create the documents as you would to mail, with two copies of each poem, each with category number and name in upper left, one copy with id in upper right and one without.

 

Please submit all entries together as a single .pdf file with poems in numerical order.

 

 

*If you would like a copy of the winners list, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope directly to the contest chair or with mailed entry. Winners' list will be posted on website andon Facebook page and group after awards are given at the spring meeting. Click here for a downloadable/printable copy of this brochure.

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Questions? Complaints? Brilliant poetry-related thoughts? Email the contest chair at wytrabbit1@aol.com