Spirit First is pleased to announce its 11th Annual Meditation Poetry Contest. The total prize money is $450 and there is no entry fee required. We advise that entrants read the entries of previous winners. This will help you acquaint yourself with what Spirit First is looking out for.

In 2019, 1,347 poems were received from 48 states in the U.S. and from 41 foreign nations, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland (Republic of Ireland), Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Malta, Myanmar, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Scotland, South Africa, Southern Cameroon, Spain, Sri Lanka, Syria, Taiwan, Tanzania, The Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Zimbabwe.

Complete guidelines:

-Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of Meditation or Mindfulness.

-Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none.

-Entries must be previously unpublished.

-Poems not on the themes of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or sacred silence will not be included in this meditation poetry event.

-Enter up to three submissions. Poems beyond three submissions will not be considered.

-Please submit your poems by email unless you do not have access to the Internet.

-Entries will be accepted by U.S. Postal Service for those who do not have Internet access. All others are requested to be emailed.

-Poems sent by U.S. Postal Service will not be returned. 

-Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files).

-Please do not send your poem(s) in a PDF (formatting and spacing are lost if your poem is sent in a PDF).

-Be sure to include the author’s name, address, telephone number, and email address.

-There is no cost to enter this contest There is no cost to enter this contest.

–Deadline to Enter: March 31, 2020. Submissions must be received no later than March 31, 2020. Please note: We are sorry to say we are unable to provide personal evaluations/reviews of individual poems.

How to submit:

By email: Meditate@SpiritFirst.org

By U.S. Postal Service (for those without Internet access), send to the following address:

Spirit First Poetry Contest
PO Box 8076
Langley Park, MD 20787

Prizes

First Prize: $200
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100

Winners will be announced on or around July 1, 2020. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website, the Spirit First Facebook page, the Spirit First blog, and in a Spirit First newsletter

-Authors retain full rights to their poems.

Photo Credit: Laura Mancke, Unsplash