Kent Co. poets, get entries ready for annual competition

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Kent County poets can soon submit their work to an annual competition.

Now in its 56th year, the Dyer-Ives Poetry Competition was first started by poet James Allen in 1968. The Grand Rapids Public Library is inviting Kent County poets to submit an entry to the competition starting Feb. 1.

Winners will have their poems published in “Voices” and will be invited to participate om the annual Awards Reading Ceremony during the Festival of the Arts in June. They will also receive a cash prize, ranging from $10 for the elementary school second-place winners to $150 for the first-place adult winner.

Local poets will judge the first tier of the competition. National judge Francesca Bell, the poet laureate for Marin County in California, will make the final decision.

Entered poems must be original and unpublished. They do not have to be in English, but poems in another language need an English translation.

The contest is open to Kent County residents ages 5 or older, as well as Kent County students. Entries are accepted throughout the month of February.

For more information, go to grpl.org.

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