Youth Contest Chair’s Report January 18th, 2022

OPA’s 2022 Cascadia Poetry Contest

MISSION: Cascadia, the Oregon Student Poetry Contest, serves to nurture the talent of young Oregon poets by providing an opportunity for their poems to be widely shared, published, and celebrated.

DIV I: K-2          DIV II: 3-5    DIV III: 6-8    DIV IV: 9-12

January-draft all marketing materials; press release; Submittable copy -assemble email contacts from previous contests -Marketing Month: send and set up all the things Last week of January: draft Submittable submission
FebruaryFirst week of February: notify superintendents, teachers, literary orgs
March 
April First week of April: follow-up with marketing contacts→ reminder of National Poetry Month!
MayMay 1: Contest/Submittable Deadline First week of May: We read entries and select winners Second week of May: Winners are notified and invited to read; poems given to Rana for website Fourth Week of May: Cascadia online launch June 1 @ 6 p.m.: Cascadia Winning Poets Zoom Reading; During Zoom link to google doc for permissions/addresses
JuneFirst week of June: widely share news of Cascadia online/send $$

CASCADIA

Celebrating Oregon’s Young Poets since 1999

Cascadia, the Oregon Student Poetry Contest, serves to nurture the talent of young Oregon poets by providing an opportunity for their poems to be widely shared, published, and celebrated.

OPA’s 2022 Contest opens to K-12 students February 1 via Submittable. We will accept entries until May 1. The winning poems will be published in the inaugural online issue of Cascadia. The winning poets will be invited to read their poems  June 1 via Zoom.

Follow OPA’s Facebook page for additional contest details and reminders.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Call for Submissions! 

February 1, 2022

The Oregon Poetry Association sponsors CASCADIA 2022: Oregon’s annual K-12 student poetry contest.  Open for free submissions February 1 through May 1, 2022, via Submittable.

Cascadia, the Oregon Student Poetry Contest, serves to nurture the talent of young Oregon poets by providing an opportunity for their poems to be widely shared, published, and celebrated.

Up to ten unranked winners in each of four age categories receive $50 cash prizes. The winning poems will be published in the first online issue of Cascadia: a journal of award-winning student poetry from the Oregon Poetry Association (OPA). Winning poets will be invited to read their poem in an online celebration June 1 at 6 p.m. PST via Zoom.

The winning poems in both the middle and high school divisions are eligible and may be sent to the 2023 Manningham Trust Student Contest sponsored by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NSFPS). This national competition also awards cash prizes and anthology publication.

Former Cascadia award winners include Sophia Mautz, Portland Youth Poet Laureate and Scholastic Art & Writing Awards fellow, and South Medford alumnus Kylan Rice.

Writing poetry to enter in the contest is often a class project organized by English Language Arts teachers. OPA urges parents and teachers to encourage students to enter the contest. This is an excellent opportunity to showcase the writing and creativity of Oregon’s young people. We look forward to celebrating together.

OPA is a non-profit organization whose mission is to:
            • build and sustain a diverse community of Oregon poets
            • provide Oregon poets opportunities to exchange ideas and learn from one another
            • further the appreciation of poetry throughout the state
            • raise awareness of Oregon poets.

Visit us at wordpress-687676-2268923.cloudwaysapps.com  (See “Read Cascadia” tab) and follow us on Facebook

Contact / Cascadia Contest Chair                  

Lauren Mallett
Contact Chair

2022 Cascadia Student Poetry Contest Guidelines

Poems accepted February 1-May 1, 2022, via Submittable.

Division I: Kindergarten – Grade 2

Division II: Grade 3 – Grade 5

Division III: Grade 6 – Grade 8

Division IV: Grade 9 – Grade 12

Contest open to all K-12 students throughout the state of Oregon, including public, private, parochial, and home school students. There is no entry fee.

Each winner will receive a $50 prize and publication in the inaugural online issue of Cascadia. Winners will be announced to all entrants no later than May 25. OPA will host a celebratory reading for the winning poets June 1 at 6 p.m. PST via Zoom.

All winners in Divisions III and IV may be entered into the nationwide 2023 Manningham Trust Student Contest sponsored by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. This contest also awards cash prizes and publication.

Cascadia Student Poetry Contest Submission Guidelines 

1.     Each student may submit one originalpoem (of their own, individual creative work) on any subject, in any style, form, or language. Bilingual poems are also encouraged. Co-written and collaborative poems will, unfortunately, be disqualified.

2.     The poem should be uploaded to Submittable by the student or their teacher in a .doc or .docx file.

Teachers may submit entries from multiple students within the same document.

3.     Each page of the document should include a header that lists the following:

  • Student’s Name
  • Student’s Grade
  • Student’s School
  • Student’s Email (if applicable)
  • Parent/Guardian’s Email
  • Student’s Teacher

4.     Submissions that do not include complete headers will be disqualified.

5.     The deadline is May 1, 2022. Contact Cascadia Contest Chair Lauren Mallett (contact) if you have questions or are unable to utilize the Submittable platform.

Selection of Cascadia Student Poetry Contest Winners 

i.               The Cascadia Student Poetry Contest seeks entries written by student poets from all backgrounds, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, language, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, ancestry, or disability.

ii.              The Cascadia Student Poetry Contest winners will be selected by a committee composed of the Oregon Poetry Association’s Executive Board.

iii.            25 finalists in each Division will be selected by the Cascadia Contest Chair and Webmaster.

iv.            2-3 committee members will read and rank each finalist.

v.              Committee members will recuse themselves from judging poems written by their current and former students

SUBMITTABLE SUBMISSION FORM

  •   I am  a student submitting my own poetry.

OR

  •  I am a teacher submitting the poetry of my student(s).

-Upload a .doc or .docx file that contains one original poem per student and includes the following heading:

  • Student’s Name
  • Student’s Grade
  • Student’s School
  • Student’s Email (if applicable)
  • Parent’s Email
  • Student’s Teacher
  • I certify that this poem is my own, original creative work and has not been copied (without attribution), in whole or in part, from any other author’s work, including poems posted online.

(automated response to entrants) 

Dear ______________,

Thank you for your submission to OPA’s 2022 Cascadia Student Poetry Contest. We look forward to reading your poetry! We will announce the contest winners by May 25. Winning poets will be invited to read their poems June 1 at 6 p.m. via Zoom.

Write on,

Lauren Mallett & Rana Tahir

Cascadia Contest Chair & Webmaster
Oregon Poetry Association

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