Annual Children’s Poetry Contest
Meet Our Contest Judge
Tooba Mutahir is an aspiring author and librarian. She is currently working towards her bachelor’s degree in English and plans to pursue a master’s degree in library and information sciences after. Tooba loves to draw and write her own stories, and her dream is to publish her work someday. When she is not writing or drawing, she likes playing Dungeons and Dragons with her friends and spending time with her budgies.
To the contestants & their supervising adults
We do not accept any type of plagiarism or use of AI. All poems must be fully original and must not be published elsewhere. ChatGPT, fill-in-the-blank poems, and anything similar will not be accepted. Parents, guardians, or teachers will be asked to sign off on their child’s submission to ensure that it is their original work.
Entry Guidelines
Deadline
December 15, 2026
Entry Categories
Poems will be judged in two categories based on age of contestant:
- 5 – 8
- 9 – 12
Entry Fee
- None. The children’s poetry contest is free.
Eligibility
- Contestants must be 12 years or under
- Poems must be the original work(s) of the author
- Poems submitted must not be previously published.
- Each contestant is allowed up to 2 submissions.
- Each poem should be given a title. If there is no title, editors will use the first line of the poem as its title.
Prizes
- For each category:
- Cash prize of $25 for the First Place winner with certificate of award
- Second place winner will receive $15 with certificate of award
- Third place winner will receive $10 with certificate of award
- Additional poems may be selected as Honorable Mentions
- Depending on the number of submissions, a number of poems will be selected for publication in a short anthology.
Results
- Results will be available in the second week of January 2027
- Authors of winning entries will be notified by email
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