Click here for Poetry Contests in Wisconsin and elsewhere, listed by deadline date. Nota bene: this list is for your convenience only. WFOP should not be construed as endorsing or supporting these contests in any way; while many of them are both reputable and prestigious, poets should read the rules and conditions carefully before entering. Look for expositions of poetry contest scams on Google.

Student Contest
Deadline February 1
Student Rules   .doc

TRIAD Contest
Deadline August 1
Triad Rules   Entry Form   .doc

The 2009 Muse Prize for Excellence in Poetry was judged by Robert Arnold. There were 143 entries which included 100 WFOP members and 43 non-members.
The winners are:

First Place: Michael Kriesel, Aniwa, “Hidden Snow”
Second: Candace Hennekens, Fall Creek, “The Distant Shore”
Third: Jean Tomasko, Middleton, “Little Lives”

Honorable Mentions:
1st HM: Marilyn Taylor, Milwaukee, “Any Constellation”
2nd HM: Sandra Lindow, Menomonie, “Small Change”
3rd HM: William Charlesworth, Stockholm, “Puzzled Farm Boy Dies in Battle”

The 2008 Student Contest was judged by Angela Rydell, who teaches writing workshops for the UW-Madison Division of Continuing Studies, including the annual Writers’ Institute and the School of the Arts in Rhinelander. She has served as poet-in-residence in elementary schools and is a recipient of Poets & Writers’ Maureen Egen Writers exchange Award.  Her work has been published in The Sun Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Alaska Quarterly, The Beloit Journal The Crab Orchard Review and other journals.  She holds an M.F.A. from Warren Wilson College. The winners are:

Senior Division: Grades 9-12

1st Place:
“Social Frost” Samuel McLaughlin, 12th grade, Edgewood High School, Madison
2nd Place:
“I Don’t Care” Mariah Ross, 11th grade, Coleman High School
3rd Place:
“Another Time” Carly Heyman, 9th grade, Coleman High School

Honorable Mentions:
1st Honorable Mention:
“On My Own” Holly Zehfus, 11th grade, Kohler High School
2nd Honorable Mention:
 “Delamort” Madison Larson-Rolf, 9th grade, Brookfield Academy
3rd Honorable Mention:
“Meanwhile” Trillian Bergmann, 12th grade, DeForest High School

1st Place:
“The End” Isabel Markowski, 7th grade, South Middle School, Eau Claire
2nd Place:
“Chalk” Natalie Turner, 8th grade, South Middle School, Eau Claire
3rd Place:
“Fairyland” Haley West, 8th grade, Van Brunt School, Horicon

Honorable Mentions:
1st Honorable Mention:
 “Swirled Tip Shell” Bennett LeDuc, 8th grade, Chippewa Falls Middle School
2nd Honorable Mention:
 “I Stand Alone” Rachel Meyer, 8th grade, Armitage Academy, Kenosha
3rd Honorable Mention:
 “One Kiss” Logan Corlett, 8th grade, Richmond School District