Spoken Word Category Added to Benvenuto High School Poetry Competition

September 20, 2022

We're pleased to announce that we have added a spoken word category to the Benvenuto High School Poetry Competition!

Each year, the RCAH Center for Poetry holds the Richard Benvenuto High School Poetry Competition, open to Michigan high school students, with prizes donated by Barry Gross in memory of his dear classmate, colleague, and friend Richard Benvenuto.

This year, in addition to our regular text/page poetry category, we are accepting entries for a spoken word category. 

Spoken word submissions will be evaluated on the basis of creativity, originality of content, and excellence in performance. Spoken word entries should be submitted as videos, not to exceed three minutes.

Text submissions will be evaluated on the basis of creativity, originality of content, and literary craft and should not exceed 50 lines. 

Students may submit up to three poems in total. While poets may choose to enter both categories, they may not submit the same poem in both categories. 

Please view our updated guidelines for more information.

 

The deadline for entry is December 1, 2022. The winners will be notified via email and announced no later than February 28 via our website.

 

Competition winners are cordially invited to Michigan State University for a reading/performance of their winning entries on March 15, 2023.