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Welcome!

This is where you can submit your poetry for the second All Words Bright & Beautiful poetry contest!

There will be 3 winners and 3 honorable mentions; if you win 1st place, you get $120 in cash; if you win 2nd, you get $85 in cash; if you win 3rd, you get $60. Your winning or honorably mentioned piece will also be featured in a non-paywalled post to our 1.1K+ subscribers.

Your poem should be inspired by this word: desiderium.

Desiderium is the heartbreaking desire you have for everything you’ve ever lost. So, focus on creating a beautiful and resonant poem about sorrow and heartbreak; if it has a redemptive ending, that’s cool, too. Check out Psalm 42 for an example of the vibe we're going for.

Please note: it is not necessary or encouraged that you include the word "desiderium" in your poem. The important thing is to get the idea the word evokes across.

There are only 3 rules:

  1. Thou shalt make the poem rhythm and rhyme. It is not enough that the poem merely rhymes. It must also have a recognizable rhythm when read out loud. Examples of poetry that both rhymes and rhythms well are "Noel" by J. R. R. Tolkien, "The Wreck of the Hesperus" by H. W. Longfellow, and "The Ballad of the White Horse" by G. K. Chesterton. 
  2. Thou shalt make the poem imaginative and beautiful. The poem must use beautiful and imaginative language! For example, we want the same kind of language that describes the moon as a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, stars as silver sky-fish swimming in a sea of darkness, and grassy lawns as worlds of adventure to explore, if only you were the size of an acorn. 
  3. Thou shalt make the poem's meaning easy to understand. The poem needs to not be difficult to understand for the average person. Make sure when you write it that it is something that most people would be able to appreciate. 
If you've pledged a paid subscription to All Words Bright & Beautiful, you get to enter this contest and all poetry contests we hold after this date for free. You may submit as many entries as you like without having to pay an entry fee at any time.

If you haven't pledged a paid subscription yet but want to, feel free to do it here!

Submissions close: on June 30, 2026 or once we reach 49 submissions, whichever happens first.

We look forward to seeing what you send us! Godspeed! :)
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FAQs

We recommend a minimum length of 10 lines and a maximum length of 30.

This isn't a hard and fast rule, though! If you're worried about the length of your poem, feel free to let us know about it here!
We want you to have a really good chance of winning or getting featured in our Substack, so we're limiting the number of submissions we're accepting to just 33.

Which means you have a 1/11 chance of winning!
You may, but you'll have to submit them separately via this form, and will have to pay the entry fee each time you submit an entry.

The only exception to this rule is if you've pledged a paid subscription to All Words Bright & Beautiful. If you've done that, you can submit as many entries as you like without having to pay the entry fee at any time. :)
No, if you submit multiple entries, only your best piece will be considered for 1 of the 3 winning tiers.

If your next best piece merits it, though, it will be eligible for 1 out of the 3 honorable mentions.

So hypothetically, if you were to submit 3 entries, one could win 1st place and another could also be honorably mentioned, but that is the best that could happen.
If it could be seen as an interpretation of the prompt and hasn't been published online within the last 365 days, then yes.
Submit this form, and you will be redirected to a page where you can.

Once paid, your submission process is completed! Please note that if you do not pay the entry fee, your submission will not be considered.

The only exception to this rule is if you've pledged a paid subscription to All Words Bright & Beautiful. You won't have to pay the entry fee if you've done that, regardless of how many poems you submit to this contest. :)
Of course you may, as long as you credit them!
Put asterisks before and after the text you want to italicize like this: *Good morning, Pinky Bigglebuffins!* 

To indicate you want bold text, use underscores instead: _Good morning, Pinky Bigglebuffins!_

We'll be sure to convert the text to actual italic and bold text before we review your submission. ;)
There will be 3 winners; if you win 1st place, you get $100 in cash; if you win 2nd, you get $75 in cash; if you win 3rd, you get $50. Your winning piece will also be featured in a non-paywalled post to our 700+ subscribers.
We will probably accept it, but we reserve the right to not accept it if we choose to.

If you have pledged a paid subscription to All Words Bright & Beautiful, your somewhat-late submission will not be rejected. 

If your submission is rejected and you paid an entry fee, your entry fee will be refunded.
Feel free to ask it by clicking here!