Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White announced today that entry forms are available for the tenth annual Illinois Emerging Writers Competition Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award.
“We created the Illinois Emerging Writers Competition to promote creative writing and provide a new outlet for talented writers,” White said. “Great poems have the ability to enrich and enhance our lives, and I am looking forward to discovering talented new poets with this year’s competition.”
The competition is named in honor of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning Illinois Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Brooks, and is co-sponsored by the Illinois Center for the Book and Kevin Stein, who succeeded Brooks as Illinois Poet Laureate.
The competition is open to Illinois residents age 18 and over. Entries must be postmarked by June 30, 2014. Cash prizes will be awarded for first ($500) second ($300) and third place ($100) and winning poems will be submitted for possible publication in the Ninth Letter, RHINO, and Quiddity magazines and Poetic License Press publications. Winners will read their poems and receive their prizes at a ceremony later this year at the Illinois State Library in Springfield.
Forms and other information may be found at www.cyberdriveillinois.com. For more information, contact Bonnie Matheis at 217-558-2065 or bmatheis@ilsos.net.