Bucks County Community College announced that the search for the 46th annual Bucks County Poet Laureate is officially underway.
The longest-running poet laureate program in Pennsylvania is open to Bucks County residents over age 18 who have not previously served as poet laureate. Each entrant must submit 10 original poems of any style or length, along with an entry form to the college’s Language and Literature Department. Entries must be submitted by Friday, Sept. 9.
The winner receives a $500 honorarium, a proclamation from the Bucks County Commissioners, and will be featured at a fall reading and reception at Bucks County Community College with the previous year’s poet laureate Nicole Steinberg, and contest runners-up.
Poetry of any kind is welcome. The entry requires 10 poems, any style, form or length. All work must be original, published or unpublished, typewritten or word-processed, one poem per page, in black ink. The poems and entry form must be submitted online at bucks.edu/poetlaureateentry.
There is no charge to enter the contest, but there is a limit of one entry per person.
Two judges will blindly select the winner. The preliminary judge will narrow the entries down to a few dozen for the final judge, who will choose the winner and three runners-up from the pool of finalists.
The 2022 final judge is Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, and the preliminary judge is Shawn R. Jones.
Email Professor Ethel Rackin at [email protected] with any questions.
