Released: March 10, 2023
For the 34th year, the Mad Poets Society and Delaware County Libraries present the Delaware County Young Poets Competition. All Delaware County students grades 1–12 are invited to submit one original poem for consideration!
Three winning poems will be selected from each grade, and all 36 poems winning poems will be published in the Library’s annual poetry anthology and posted on Delaware County Libraries’ website, as well as the Mad Poets Society website.
The Young Poets Competition will culminate with a special awards ceremony and reading in May. All winners and their families will be invited to attend.
Poems can be submitted online at www.delcolibraries.org/poetry-contest or in person at any of the 28 Delaware County Library locations. All original poems dropped off at a library must be typed on an 8 ½” by 11” paper, and all poems submitted online must be written in MS Word format.
Submissions must include the student’s name, grade, phone number, address, the parent’s email (no school email addresses please), and the school name on the top right (front) of the poem. If the information is not listed, the entry will be disqualified.
Submissions will be accepted through March 31, 2023.
Contact information is for notification purposes only and will not be shared. 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each grade level will be contacted by e-mail by May 15th.
Young poets should keep a copy of their poem; submissions will not be returned.
For more information on this contest, contact Cheri Crow, Coordinator of Youth Services for Delaware County Libraries, at ccrow@delcolibraries.org or email info@madpoetssociety.com.
Delaware County Libraries is an agency of county government that provides support services for 26 independent member libraries. For information about the wide range of library services available to all county residents, visit www.delcolibraries.org.
Go to www.delcolibraries.org/sites/default/files/poetry_booklet_2022_final_0.pdf to check out the poems selected for the 2022 Anthology.