Poetry 101 Forum Contest Ideas

Do a make me cry contest. 

1. Specific amouth of words, Like 20 words Poem 2. Opposite Poetry, like writing a poem and redoing it completely the opposite way. 3. Good Vs. Evil 4. Family Poem 5. Numeric Poem 6. Color poem

You could do one where you ask the writer to introduce himself, the story of his life in a poem.

Maybe you could have contest where they write about their favorite person from History. Or Interview their friends then write a poem about them. (You provide the questions) 

How about like a picture essay contest? Not necessarily involving art or formal essays, just like short stories or poems that paint a specific "picture." The title of the contest could be "Paint Me a Picture"?

vignettes. total of 4 vignettes ... one rhyme, one free verse, one prose and one six word story

How about simply 8 words?

How about "Poems that stop traffic" It happens to me often that I am "triggered" while driving, and words just start flowing - so much so that I have to pull over next to the road to write it all down. Contest: Share any poem that had such a "mobile" birth.

An epic poem like Beowulf?

Looking at the contests I've entered so far, I seem to prefer ones that require a specific structure, like the 6 word stories, 100 word stories, or haikus; or writing prompts that require the use of disparate ideas: ie A post-it note, a bank robbery, and bubble bath. Not sure why those get my brain going.

Oh, maybe a translation contest? Turn an episode of your favorite tv show into a poem, or tell your favorite sonnet as a short story!

And one last one, Modern Aesops, where we tell a fable that ends with a definite moral. (I've been reading a lot of bettermyths.com lately, that guy's hilarious).

How about we do a contest about who can write the most deep poem of all time. It dosen't have to great, but it at least has to be good and trys to be good.

Poetry with an inspirational message rather than just expressing your ownself..

Fortune cookies! Crack open a random fortune cookie or two and use the fortune as the prompt for the contest. If it's one with the 'learn chinese' on the back, you can say that the word has to appear in the poem or title. Lucky numbers = word or line count.

How about a contest that gives the people who are bullied or abused some hope. You first have to describe the hardship of being a victim (does not have to be yourself) and must end with overcoming this hardship or showing that there is still hope.

Poems that have double meanings.

What about a poem which shows two different sides and it conflicts. but not a mainstream conflict like affirmative and negative points.

A POEM FULL OF REALISM RATHER THAN USUAL IMAGINATION

Maybe a theme that focuses on the use of drugs and how it hurts and/or kills you.

A poem about childhood