This year’s contest is open from September 1, 2023 to 11:59 p.m. on November 15, 2023. Only submissions from Florida residents will be accepted.

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One unpublished poem may be entered per person. Poetry must be original, be submitted by email by the writer, and must touch on the theme storm in some way. Poetry doesn’t have to be about weather but it can be! What comes to mind when you think of the word storm? Have fun and write something that will make us read it again, smile, lift our eyebrows, or hold our breath. Poetry can rhyme, follow a format, or not. Just remember, every word counts.

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Please send your poem by attachment so that can be printed. We will not accept poetry that has been submitted only in the body of your email. It takes time away from reading if we have to create a printable document ourselves.

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Poet’s name, email, and Florida address and telephone number must be in the upper right corner of the submitted page. All entries will be copied and given to judges with names redacted.

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To be considered for a prize, your poem must be emailed to: SafetyHarborWritersGroup@gmail.com with the subject line “Roger Howard Poetry submission 2023.” If these instructions are not followed as stated, poetry may become lost and we certainly don’t want that to happen!

A total of $200. will be awarded by 12/15/23: 1st prize $125, 2nd prize $50, and 3rd prize $25.

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Dr. Roger Howard was a member of Safety Harbor Writers & Poets for several years until his passing in November, 2018. Thanks to a donation from his family, we are keeping his memory alive through poetry.

Members of his Monday night writers group (SHW&P) are not eligible to enter, but may participate in final judging.