Gaithersburg Book Festival’s Annual High School Poetry Contest to Focus on Themes of ‘Diversity or Inclusion’

The 2023 Gaithersburg Book Festival’s annual high school poetry contest is now open for submissions. The themes for 2023 are “Diversity or Inclusion.” To participate, students must be enrolled in grades 9-12 at a public or private school, or be in a homeschool program, for the 2022-23 school year. Entrants must reside in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia.

Poems must be submitted electronically at https://fs30.formsite.com/GBurgMD/GBFpoetrycontest/index.html. The entry deadline is midnight on Thursday, Feb. 23.

First- and second-place winners will receive $250 and $100, respectively. Third-place and fan-favorite winners will receive $50 and $25, respectively.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 Gaithersburg Book Festival, which will take place May 20 at Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm in Gaithersburg.

Students must craft a poem on one theme: either diversity or inclusion.

Poems should:

• Be submitted as a Word document (.doc or .docx).
• Be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font.
• Be one page in length.
• Have a file name title of the poem only (e.g., The_Red_Fern.doc).
• Not include the name of the student or school in the file name.
• Be the original work of the student and not previously published online or in print.

By submitting work to the contest, students grant the Gaithersburg Book Festival a non-exclusive license to publish, distribute, transmit and exhibit the poem, and any portions thereof, via any medium without financial compensation.

Up to 12 poems will be selected as finalists and posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website prior to the festival. Finalists will also be asked to record a video of themselves reading their poems, which will be posted on the Gaithersburg Book Festival website.

Complete rules and regulations can be found online at https://www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org/gbf-programs/poetry-contest/.

Questions can be emailed to writingcontest@gaithersburgbookfestival.org.

The Gaithersburg Book Festival is an annual all-day celebration of books, writers and literary excellence. One of the premier literary events in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, the 2023 festival will include author appearances; discussions and book signings; writing workshops; a Children’s Village; onsite sales of new and used books; and literary exhibitors.