Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties has extended the deadline for its annual Franklin County Poetry Contest, a free, all-ages contest, to May 15. All winners will be announced on June 8.

First, second, and third place winners will be selected in each of six categories: Ages 0-7, 8-12, 13-17, 18-25, 26 and older, and Literacy Volunteers students.

First-place winners will receive cash prizes of $25, second-place winners will receive two movie tickets to Narrow Gauge Cinemas, and third-place winners will receive five literacy bucks.

To enter, email no more than one poem to Literacyvolunteersfs@gmail.com, or mail it to the Farmington Public Library, 117 Academy St., Farmington, ME. 04938 by May 15, with a cover letter listing the poet’s name, category, contact information, and the title of the poem submitted so that poems can be read anonymously.

Cover letters need not include biographical information. Only submissions which follow this criteria and are submitted by May 15 will be considered. All poems must be original and previously unpublished. Poems will not be returned, so do not send originals or a self-addressed sealed envelope.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted; please note on the cover letter and notify the Literacy Volunteers immediately of acceptance elsewhere.

Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties will process all poems and send them, anonymized and with any identifying information removed, to an out-of-county judge, Poet Laine Kuehn, who will select the winners in each category.

Kuehn graduated from Denver School of the Arts in 2010 as a Creative Writing major and has recently earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Maine in Farmington. Kuehn, a 2013 and 2014 intern with the Beloit Poetry Journal, serves on the steering committee for the annual Belfast Poetry Festival and currently resides in Belfast.

Finalists will be notified by June 8; other confirmation of receipt should not be expected.

For more information about the contest guidelines, visit westernmaineliteracy.org or call 778-4312.