Mississippi’s new poet Laureate, Ann Fisher-Wirth, is continuing the long-running Mississippi Poetry Project, a statewide poetry initiative for students in grades K-12.
All students across Mississippi are invited to participate. Each participating school will select three winning poems per grade, which will be sent to the statewide competition. All school-wide winners will have their winning poems published in a contest anthology and be invited to share their work at a reading and celebration.
The project focusing on helping students experience the joy and accomplishment that can come from writing poetry, and from sharing their own voices, words, and experiences.
For the 2025 Mississippi Poetry Project, the prompt is: Writing About Nature: A Place I Love (Or, A Place I Hate).
In addition to setting the prompt for the 2025 competition, Fisher-Wirth provides the following questions for student poets:
- What is the most beautiful place in nature that you have ever been?
- What are your favorite flowers? Plants? Trees? Insects? Animals, besides pets? Sounds in nature? Colors in nature? Land formations—mountains, swamps, fields, meadows, forests? Bodies of water?
- What is the happiest experience you have had in nature—hiking? Fishing? Taking photographs? Playing with a pet? Playing with friends? Having picnics with your family? Sleeping under a tree? Exploring? Just sitting quietly?
- Have you had an experience in nature that you hated?—getting poison ivy? Getting lost? Getting hurt? Getting bitten?
- Do you have a secret hideaway? Do you grow things? Do you study things in nature? Do you play games outside? If you had a wish for the place you love, or for the place you hate, what would it be?
Timeline:
During the fall, students should write poems using the Writing About Nature prompt.
By December 8, schools should select three winning poems per grade.
For additional information about this initiative and instructions, see MLC’s Mississippi Poetry Project Page or contact mspoetry@olemiss.edu.