Renewal. Rebirth. Hope. These are the things Spring so often stands for, especially now after our collective “winter of discontent.”*

For the Howe Writing Center’s annual poetry contest, we seek student work that explores a hopeful future and a remembered past. What are your hopes for change, healing, wellness, and true equality in our lives, our communities, and our society? What rebirths and renewals do you envision or have you already noticed?

*From Shakespeare's Richard III, where this particular "winter of discontent" lasted at least 15 years, one of the causes of the Wars of the Roses.

Contest Details:

We invite you to submit up to 2 poems, along with an author’s note, for consideration by 11:59PM Friday, April 23.

Submissions will be reviewed anonymously. Please ensure that there’s no identifying information within your submission. A team of Howe Writing Center consultants and staff will judge submissions according to originality, relation to the theme, overall polish, and thoughtfulness of the author's note. 

3 prize winners will be selected:

• First Prize: $150 gift credit to the Miami Bookstore
• Second Prize: $100 gift credit to the Miami Bookstore
• Staff-choice Prize: $50 gift credit to the Miami Bookstore

With writer's permission, the winning submissions—including the author's note—will be featured on the HWC website. You can read the winning submissions from our Fall 2020 nonfiction writing contest, focused on the theme "Here and Now, Current Moments: Experiencing 2020" here.  

Questions? Email Kate Francis at francik@miamioh.edu.

The submission deadline has passed. Thank you to all who sent in poems; winning entries will be announced soon.