Share your dreams with us.

Summary: Poetry as a party of one is fun, but what if you could write with everyone? Join our Community Poem Project and add your voice to something bigger.

Instructions: Submit a single line or up to 12 lines, and we’ll select lines or words, or stanzas from some of your submissions and combine them into one single community poem. Email us at booksvillefest@gmail.com with any questions. We can’t wait to read your words!

2026 Theme: Dreaming of Home

Theme Description: Whether it’s a physical place we know, the future we dream of, or the people around us, we all dream of a place to call home. What do you see when you dream of home? Who is with you in your dreams? What does home feel like?

ENTRY RULES

  • Applications are due by December 1st.

  • All entries should utilize proper grammar. NO TEXTING LINGO. 

  • All submissions should be written in English.

  • Poems containing language that is vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate will not be accepted. The final ruling is at the sole discretion of the committee of judges.

  • Any genre is acceptable provided the material adheres to the above content guidelines. No risqué, adult, or vulgar content will be accepted.

  • To ensure proper lineation, please use the “Enter” key to start a new line, indicating all intentional line breaks.

AUTHOR RULES

  • The contest is open to anyone aged eleven (11) and up 

  • The author's name and address will be verified.

  • Only one poem addition per person may be submitted.

  • Poem line(s) must be submitted using the form found on this page and must be received by the webmaster no later than December 1, 2025.

  • Minimum length: 1 line

  • Maximum length: 12 lines

  • All entries must be the original work of the submitter. Any entry containing plagiarized material will be disqualified. Absolutely no AI-generated material will be accepted. 

  • For questions, email booksvillefest@gmail.com.

PUBLICATION

The final Community Poem will be featured in our Booksville’s Short Story & Poetry Collection: Volume II. There is no purchase required to be included in this project. There will be no royalties paid to contributors of anthologies. Copies will be available for purchase. By submitting a line(s) to our contest, you accept that your line(s) may appear online and in print. We reserve the right not to publish poetry line(s) for any reason.

COPYRIGHT

All publications are copyrighted with the U.S. Library of Congress as compilations.