Calling all young poets! Cash prizes and publication in our 2021 Winter-Spring edition of The Rockford Review. Age categories:
13-19
12 and under
For more information, contact editor Sally Hewitt at sally@rockfordwritersguild.org.

Love this project. I hear Rockford has about 25 of these now. https://littlefreelibrary.org

Rockford Review Youth Poetry Award

An anonymous donor sent us funds to sponsor a youth poetry contest. The contest will be open to all kids up to age 18, so we hope all of you RWG members will encourage your children and/or grandchildren to submit poems they’ve written. We’ll try to get the word out to the wider public, too.

We’ve set up two categories:
13-18
12 and under

Please send up to 3 poems, 50 lines or less, to sally@rockfordwritersguild.org. Your name, age, address, email address, and phone number should appear in the upper righthand corner.

Two RWG members have graciously volunteered to judge the contest entries. The deadline for entries is October 1, midnight Rockford time.

Winners will receive a $20 check from RWG and winning poems will be published in the Winter-Spring edition of The Rockford Review.

The Summer-Fall edition of The Rockford Review will be mailed next week.

Invitation from Poets & Patrons of Chicago:
Poetry contest with 14 themed categories, plus a free sonnet contest with 2 categories (traditional and modern). Cash prizes. Deadline September 1, 2020. Contests are open to all, except one category open to Chicago area residents only (Rockford is included in the definition of “Chicago area”). Go to www.poetsandpatrons.net for details and guidelines.

Check out our June newsletter: see the results of our Board election, find out who won the writing contests, notice that our June meeting has been cancelled, and more! Just click on Newsletters at the top menu bar.

Here’s another must-read/hear interview. Connie Kuntz interviews Ian Miles Kessler, Chicago playwright, who is originally from Hamden, CT. Connie calls this “State of the Quarantined Artist.” https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/state-artist-whole-world-suddenly-tasting-loneliness

Rockford has two poet laureate positions available: Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate. The nomination process begins on April 8, with a deadline of June 1. Learn more about the details here: https://www.northernpublicradio.org/post/rockford-poets-laureate-champion-art-poetry-and-spoken-word

Due to recent events regarding COVID-19, we’ve decided to cancel our March 15 RWG meeting at the Burpee Museum. Yesterday, WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic. Be safe and well, everyone!

Everyone is invited! March 15 RWG meeting: Burpee Museum of Natural History, 1-3 p.m., downstairs Riverview Room. But, if you aren’t feeling well, you might want to stay home.
Choose one of the stories you have done so far this year and develop a plan for rewrites. Share what you would like to do in terms of editing/revising. Please bring copies of your work so people can read along and make suggestions.