Support Us Button Widget

How to submit to our 2024 poetry contest

It’s National Poetry Month, and our readers are invited to submit original poems in a special WStoday contest.

A stack of books on a wooden porch swing.

Think you’ve got what it takes to turn this newsletter into a poem?

Photo by Karolina Grabowska via Pexels

Calling all readers: In honor of National Poetry Month, you’re officially invited to enter WStoday’s poetry contest.

This contest is open to all, and the rules couldn’t be more simple: Turn our Wednesday, April 3 newsletter into a poem.

We’ll clarify. Using only the words that appear in this newsletter, craft an original poem of up to 75 words. Unlike an erasure poem, the words do not have to appear in the order they’re found — mix and match how you please. Any English word appearing anywhere in today’s newsletter is fair game, including the ones you’re reading right now (we’ll throw some fun ones at you: Red. Ambivalent. Fungi.). If a word appears once, you can only use it once.

The rules:

  • Submit your poem here by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 14.
  • Include a title + author’s name in your submission. Titles are an exception to the rule, and do not need to pull words from the newsletter.
  • Poems, excluding title and author’s name, must be 75 words or less.

The fun stuff:

  • While we’ve placed a pretty big limitation on your poem’s words, the form + direction is up to you — and we can’t wait to see what you all come up with.
  • The Editorial team behind WStoday will narrow submissions down to a group of finalists based on style, originality, artistic quality, and creativity. Finalists will be announced in an upcoming newsletter, and we’ll ask our readers to vote for their favorite poem. We’ll feature the winner’s poem in a newsletter during the last full week of April.
  • Pro tip: To make the process easier on yourself, we recommend printing out today’s issue, highlighting the words you find most interesting, and crossing them out as you include them in your poem.
  • Don’t forget to keep track of your articles (words like “the” or “and”).

Happy writing, Winston-Salem.

More from WStoday
See how thoroughly you’ve been reading our newsletter with a 10-quest quiz about Winston-Salem’s biggest headlines.
Bookmark this guide for a curated list of events taking place each month that we’re most looking forward to.
From where to park to what to expect at the race track, we’ve got all the details for you.
At these miniature art galleries around Winston-Salem, you can take a piece of art or leave one for your neighbors to enjoy.
The North Trade Street restaurant has served over 2 million customers.
Third places are public, informal gathering spaces that you frequent in your community. We’re here to help you give you recommendations and help you find your third place around the Twin City.
Timmy’s Hot Chicken and Small Batch Beer Co. are giving locals the opportunity to try six sauces made famous by Sean Evans’ interview show.
How does the Twin City stack up against other places in the US? Pretty well, according to these national publications.
Brace yourselves for big things coming to the Twin City this year.
Due to market demands, the city launched a loan program in hopes to attract more companies and boost the economy.