Call for Poems: National Poetry Month Contest

A contest in honor of National Poetry Month is being sponsored by kayday.com. There is no entry fee, and cash prizes will be awarded. "It's a means of giving something back," says Kay Day,author of A Poetry Break.

(PRWEB) January 31 2004--All poets 18 years of age and older are invited to enter the National Poetry Month Contest sponsored by kayday.com. The Net site is the property of Kay Day, author of A Poetry Break. Ms. Days latest book was published in January, '04 by the independent press, Ocean Publishing. The book includes award-winning poems and an introduction by Ruth Daigon.

I wanted to do something that offered poets a chance in the spotlight," says Day. So many people helped me along the way. This is just a means of giving something back." Four authors will judge the contest; the judges include published poets. Their names and occupations are listed with the guidelines.

There is no entry fee. First prize is $100 and second prize is $50. The winning poem will be presented at a press conference scheduled for April 2 at 10 a.m. at the Cheesecake Café San Marco in Jacksonville, Florida. Press coverage has already been offered by print media and a Jacksonville television station.

"We chose this cafe for a good reason," says Ms. Day. "A Jacksonville poet, Ray Nielson, worked with the cafe owner so that we can have regular open mic nights there. This is a small struggling business, so we hope lots of folks will come out and support the cafe."

Also at the press conference, the First Coast Poets Society, a chapter of the Florida State Poets Association, will unveil plans for celebrating poetry during the month of April. Plans include a project, Random Acts of Poetry," whereby members will hand out poems at random.

Guidelines for the contest must be followed and are available at kayday.com. The deadline for entries is February 24, '04.

Ms. Day says the winners may opt to have their poems published in a special section of her Net site called By Invitation. This section is a showcase of poetry and prose," she says. Others published there include past Pulitzer finalist Andrew Glaze and Claudia Grinnell, finalist in the Ann Stanford competition. Steve Kowit, author of the most popular poetry handbook in America is featured in the section, and many other noted authors as well. If the winners dont want their work published, thats fine too," says Day. That way, they can collect their prize money and sell the poems to a magazine."

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