Nature and Environmental Poetry 2021 Contest

Put your outdoor experiences on the page and win!

Put your outdoor experiences on the page and win!

Competition Opens: Monday, October 4
Submit for Expert Review: Monday, October 11
Final Entries Due: Tuesday, October 19

“Wildness,” says environmental writer Terry Tempest Williams, “reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” What’s more, Williams maintains that creative writing is what allows us to “bypass rhetoric and pierce the heart.” Indeed, sometimes the most powerful works come from a place of love rather than facts and argument. This month, write an original poem about what you know and love from the natural world. Your poem may focus on an element of the environment under threat and worthy of protection (the air in your city, the fire-prone hillsides surrounding your neighborhood); bear witness to change (how the environment you live in has transformed since you were a child); or honor the planet we call home (the bird song that wakes you each morning, the ancient olive tree at your city’s edge, the glaciers that feed your region’s rivers.) It’s time to “bypass the rhetoric,” dear poets—write your way into the hearts of your waiting readers.

For more information, visit https://writetheworld.com/competitions/146.