National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Inc. announces rules for the 2025 annual Manningham Trust Student Poetry Contest.
Ten prizes will be awarded in each division: First Place – $75, Second Place – $50, Third Place – $40, Fourth Place – $35, Fifth Place – $30, and five Honorable Mentions – $10 each.
All winning poems will be published in the Manningham Trust Student Poetry Award Anthology. Winners will receive complimentary copies.
The schools of each winning student will receive a complimentary copy for the school library. There is no entry fee.
- There are two divisions: Grade 6-8 (Junior Division) and Grades 9-12 (Senior Division). Competition is open to all qualified students. Poems may have been previously published and/or have won previous awards.
- The competition is open to all USA students in grades 6 – 12. Public, private, and homeschooled are eligible for entry by individual submission. Individual poets may only submit one poem.
- All entries must be entered through Submittable, and the proper application form must be completed, indicating poet’s contact information, school attended, & grade student is currently in. All students can open a Submittable account for no cost and there is no entry fee for the contest. Go to www.nfsps.submittable.comand check the appropriate grade level to submit.
- Each poem must be neatly typed or computer-generatedand should appear on a single sheet. In order to fit on the page, line width limit is 60 characters, including punctuation marks and spaces between words. Lines longer than 60 characters will be wrapped with a hanging indent by the editors. Any poem that exceeds the 60-character limit may be disqualified. Because our printed format will be a 6 x 9 book, some winning poems may end up printed on more than one page. The decision of the judge and/or editor is final.There should be no large or unusual fonts or illustrations. Times New Roman is the suggested font. 12-point font should be used.
- 5. The poem submitted must not have ID information. There should be no indication of prior awards granted or publication information. Winners may be asked for that information to be provided at the time of publication.
- Each entrant must make a declaration of originality. The statement will be included in the Submittable application “I certify that this poem is my original work and has not been copied in whole or part from any author’s poems in print or posted on the Internet.
Signed: _________________________________________”
- Entries must be received on Submittable between Sept. 15 – Nov. 15, 2024.
Notice of winners will be sent to each winner’s member state society (President and/or Manningham Youth Chair). Awards (certificates, checks, anthologies) will also be mailed to the student. Each member state is responsible for celebrating their state’s winners. The top winning poems will be read at the Annual NFSPS Convention held in June 2025.
Literary Standards. While we honor the First Amendment right of free speech, be aware that the winning poems will be published and distributed to school-age children. The use of inappropriate language could disqualify an entry. The decision of the judge is final.
For questions, contact the Manningham Trust Competition Chair at pollyopsahl@gmail.com.