poetry contest may 2026

Welcome!

This is where you can submit your poetry for the fourth 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 1.9K+ subscribers.

Your poem should be inspired by this word: aestivate.

To aestivate means to spend the summer.

Think beautiful cream-white beaches, family picnics on gold-gilt lawns, amber-bathed wheat and fairy-dust hay-bales, and fireflies in the twilight. Think glistening wine and the glittering sea. Think climbing and swimming and smiling and splashing. Think of the summery things you want to do before the summer is over.

Write a poem that expresses your joy in the glory of summer. And after you write it, make sure you enjoy the actual sunshine.

Please note: it is not necessary or encouraged that you include the word "aestivate" in your poem, either in the stanzas or in your title. 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 have 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 (as long as you have the subscription). You may also submit as many entries as you like without having to pay the entry fee at any time.

If you haven't gotten a paid subscription yet but want to, feel free to do it here! They're on sale!

Submissions close: on September 3rd, 2026 AD or once we reach 42 submissions, whichever happens first.

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