An annual youth poetry contest is open for submissions but this year new categories were added.
Sally Hewitt is the editor of the Rockford Review and the president of the Rockford Writers Guild. She says the contest has taken place for three years and the quality of the youth’s writing is excellent.
“Last year, we had kids writing about their grandparents with dementia, or, you know, there's some really heartfelt and heart-breaking poems that come in,” she said.
Hewitt says in addition to the poetry contest the Review is also accepting prose in the form of fiction and creative nonfiction.
“One of our board members wrote a book and the royalties that come in,” she said, “he's donating or that he took a portion of the royalties and wanting to start this contest, and then his wife put in some money, too.”
Prizes include a chance to have work published in the magazine as well as cash. These are based on age categories.
The deadline to apply for the Rockford Review Youth Poetry contest is Aug. 15. Applications can be found at rockfordwritersguild.org.
