Southern Shakespeare poetry contest adds Tallahassee bicentennial category
The Southern Shakespeare Company invites all poets and lovers of poetry to enter its poetry competition, now accepting entries through Feb. 29.
The Southern Shakespeare Company’s mission is to make the works of Shakespeare accessible to all. As part of this goal, the annual Sonnet Contest has welcomed entries from poets of all ages and experience levels since 2014.
Not only is 2024 the 10th anniversary of the Sonnet Contest, it is also Tallahassee’s bicentennial. As such, Southern Shakespeare is also accepting odes to Florida’s capital city, regardless of poet experience level and poem format.
A Shakespearean sonnet contains 14 lines in iambic pentameter that follow a strict rhyme scheme. Sonnets entered into the contest can take inspiration from any of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets or branch into creative new directions while following the classic sonnet structure.
In the bicentennial “Tallahassee Poems” category, poets are free to enter a sonnet, limerick, haiku, free verse… any type of poem at all, as long as it pays loving tribute to the city of Tallahassee, or some aspect of the city.
All entries should be submitted by Feb. 29 to the appropriate submission form at southernshakes.org/sonnet-contest.
Winners will be announced later in the spring, published online, invited to perform their work at the May 9-12 Shakespeare in the Park Festival and awarded monetary prizes.
The first-place winner will receive $200, second place $100, third place $50 in Amazon gift cards. Poets may enter up to two original poems in each of the categories for which they qualify.
This contest is a perfect way for both established and up-and-coming poets to celebrate the legacy of the Bard as well as the city of Tallahassee in its 200th birthday year.
For contest guidelines, visit southernshakes.org/sonnet-contest.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee's Southern Shakespeare opens sonnet contest