2022 Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest
The annual WyoPoets Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest has opened for submissions! Submit your finest unpublished poems for a chance at recognition and even a monetary prize. The contest is quite popular, and there are a lot of splendid entries from a diverse field of splendid poets. Hence, submissions that don’t adhere to the guidelines will be rejected. Good luck! Contest Chair Nicholas Trandahl looks forward to reading your submissions and handing them off to the fantastic judge that has signed on to pick winners and honorable mentions this year.
Guidelines
Download guidelines as a PDF.
SUBMISSION:
MAILING: Send physical submissions with entry fee to Eugene V. Shea Contest, Attn: Nicholas Trandahl, PO Box 74, Upton, Wyoming 82730. Do not send entries that require a signature upon receiving.
INFORMATION: Contact Nicholas Trandahl at nrtrandahl@gmail.com, visit http://wyopoets.org/contests.html or https://www.facebook.com/WyoPoets/
JUDGING: Judging will be done by a qualified poet not affiliated with WyoPoets. Judge’s decisions are final. Winners and Honorable Mentions will be invited to read their winning poems at the 2022 WyoPoets Spring Workshop. No entrant can win more than one monetary prize but can win additional Honorable Mentions. Contest entrants will be notified by email, at the email address included on the upper right corner of their submission.
RIGHTS: All rights remain with the poet. No entries will be returned.
DISQUALIFICATIONS: Not following the above guidelines will result in disqualification.
Guidelines
Download guidelines as a PDF.
- TIMELINE: BEGINS: October 1, 2021. ENDS: Postmark deadline-December 31, 2021.
- PRIZES: 1st PLACE: $100.00. 2nd PLACE: $50.00. 3rd PLACE: $30.00. Up to five Honorable Mentions, at the judge’s discretion, will be awarded.
- FEES: ENTRY FEE: $2.00 per poem submitted to contest (Example: 5 poems for $10.00). Limit 20 poems total per person (this includes multiple submissions). Checks and money orders for physical submissions must be made out to WyoPoets.
SUBMISSION:
- Poems must be original and unpublished, written in English, and may be about any subject.
- Photocopies accepted if clear and legible.
- Poems must be titled.
- Each poem must fit on one side of a single page.
- Poems must be single-spaced, use black 12 pt. Times New Roman font, on 8.5x11-inch white paper with one-inch margins. No pornographic or discriminatory language. Simultaneous submissions permissible.
- Submit two copies of each poem: one copy for the judge with no identification on it; one with name, mailing address, email address, and phone number in the upper right corner of each page.
- Do not include author bios.
MAILING: Send physical submissions with entry fee to Eugene V. Shea Contest, Attn: Nicholas Trandahl, PO Box 74, Upton, Wyoming 82730. Do not send entries that require a signature upon receiving.
INFORMATION: Contact Nicholas Trandahl at nrtrandahl@gmail.com, visit http://wyopoets.org/contests.html or https://www.facebook.com/WyoPoets/
JUDGING: Judging will be done by a qualified poet not affiliated with WyoPoets. Judge’s decisions are final. Winners and Honorable Mentions will be invited to read their winning poems at the 2022 WyoPoets Spring Workshop. No entrant can win more than one monetary prize but can win additional Honorable Mentions. Contest entrants will be notified by email, at the email address included on the upper right corner of their submission.
RIGHTS: All rights remain with the poet. No entries will be returned.
DISQUALIFICATIONS: Not following the above guidelines will result in disqualification.
2021 Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest Winners
By Nicholas Trandahl, Contest Chair
What a contest! The 2021 Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest is in the books, folks. The winners have been notified and checks have been sent out. The entries in this contest were such a thrill to read. There were 239 entries received from all over the country, with $504.00 collected from entry fees and donations.
Winners and Honorable Mentions were:
Entries were received from all over the varied expanse of the United States, with poems coming in from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. It was truly a pleasure to read through these amazing poems. Like wildflowers, they bloomed beautifully from this uncertain time of a pandemic and polarization, giving me hope. It was with pleasure that I handed over this year’s stunning poetry to the judge for the 2021 Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest, Vanessa Able.
Vanessa Able is a writer and editor who started her career as the editor-in-chief of Time Out Istanbul and went on to be a contributor to The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, as well as an associate editor at Esquire Latinoamerica in Mexico City. Her first book, Never Mind the Bullocks, was named a Scotsman Book of the Year. Vanessa is the founder and editor of The Dewdrop (www.thedewdrop.org), a literary platform dedicated to reading, writing and being.
As for me, Chair of the Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest, I am filled with so much gratitude and wonder at the diverse poetic voices that entered this contest, and I am so excited to see the entries that came in with the 2022 Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest.
What a contest! The 2021 Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest is in the books, folks. The winners have been notified and checks have been sent out. The entries in this contest were such a thrill to read. There were 239 entries received from all over the country, with $504.00 collected from entry fees and donations.
Winners and Honorable Mentions were:
- 1st/ “Onion Snow” by Christopher James (Gloversville, NY)
- 2nd/ “The Prodigal Daughter and an Angel With a Lip Ring” by Lyndi Waters (Kaycee, WY)
- 3rd/ “Arpan Hardpan” by Diana Swartz (Gillette, WY)
- Honorable Mention/ “Letters From Jail” by Clair McFarland (Riverton, WY)
- Honorable Mention/ “Rings” by C.A. Lozier (Bar Mills, ME)
- Honorable Mention/ “Pellicer Creek” by Reatha Thomas Oakley (Gillette, WY)
- Honorable Mention/ “Lost & Looking For Fulton Canyon” by Carol L. Deering (Riverton, WY)
- Honorable Mention “Nonbreeding (Scarce)” by Diana Swartz (Gillette, WY)
Entries were received from all over the varied expanse of the United States, with poems coming in from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming. It was truly a pleasure to read through these amazing poems. Like wildflowers, they bloomed beautifully from this uncertain time of a pandemic and polarization, giving me hope. It was with pleasure that I handed over this year’s stunning poetry to the judge for the 2021 Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest, Vanessa Able.
Vanessa Able is a writer and editor who started her career as the editor-in-chief of Time Out Istanbul and went on to be a contributor to The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, as well as an associate editor at Esquire Latinoamerica in Mexico City. Her first book, Never Mind the Bullocks, was named a Scotsman Book of the Year. Vanessa is the founder and editor of The Dewdrop (www.thedewdrop.org), a literary platform dedicated to reading, writing and being.
As for me, Chair of the Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest, I am filled with so much gratitude and wonder at the diverse poetic voices that entered this contest, and I am so excited to see the entries that came in with the 2022 Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest.
About the Eugene V. Shea National Poetry Contest
Eugene V. Shea (1925-2016)
This contest is named in honor of the late Eugene V. Shea, a longtime member of WyoPoets. Eugene was a prolific writer who was beloved by many in WyoPoets. He ran the organization's national contest for many years, and his dedication to the written word, to encouraging other writers, and to WyoPoets will forever be appreciated.
The contest takes place each fall.
The contest takes place each fall.
