2024 Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest Opens June 1!
2024 Poetry Contest
Contest Rules
Helen Schaible was a poet, mother, teacher, classicist. The Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest was established in her memory in 1998 by
the Poets Club of Chicago and funded by a gift
from Helen's daughters Jane Edwards, Lucy Parker, and Katherine Martin, and her son, the late David Schaible.
Contest Rules & Submission Period
Submission Period: June 1 – July 15, 2024. Free and open to all!
Categories
#1 - Traditional Sonnet (Shakespearean or Petrarchan)
#2 - Modern Sonnet (See below for a definition and guidelines.)
Enter ONLY ONE poem per Category. This means only 1 or 2 poems total per poet. If any poet enters more than one poem in a category, the contest coordinator will automatically accept only the first one.) Entries must be original, unpublished, not posted online or on social media, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Also, poems cannot be created with the help of any artificial intelligence applications. Poets can only win or be noted in one of the two sonnet categories.
Prizes for both categories: First Prize: $50. Second Prize: $30. Third Prize: $20. Three Honorable Mentions and three Special Merits will be named per category, ranked. Winners will be notified by the end of September 2024. If poets do not receive an email by then, they can assume they did not win. A list of all winners’ names and poem titles will be posted on our website, https://www.poetsandpatrons.net/sonnet-contest-rules. All winning poets will be invited to participate in an online reading in October.
ELECTRONIC ENTRIES ONLY.
To enter:
• Submit via email to contest chair Maggie Kennedy at maggiev@ameritech.net. If you have questions, you can also email Maggie.
• Use “Sonnet Contest” and your last name in the subject line (for example, “Sonnet Contest-Jackson”).
• In the body of your email: Include your name, address, and phone number. (Entries sent without this required information will not be accepted.) List the title(s) of your sonnet(s), noting if each is traditional or modern.
• For each poem attached: Save each sonnet as a separate Word document and attach the documents to the email. Name the Word document by noting the sonnet category then the title of the poems (for example, “Traditional-Spring Freeze” or “Modern-Save the Receipt”). Inside the Word doc: Note the category “traditional” or “modern” in the upper right corner of the document. DO NOT put your name or any other identification on the poems.
All entries must be received by midnight CDT, July 15, 2024. No late entries or paper (snail-mail) entries will be accepted.
To download 2024 Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest Rules & Requirements ➞
A note about judging: All judging is done anonymously, with no input from anyone associated with Chicagoland Poets & Patrons. All judges’ decisions are final.
2024 Traditional Sonnet Judge: Marilyn L. Taylor
Marilyn L. Taylor, former Poet Laureate of Wisconsin and of the city of Milwaukee, is the author of eight collections of poetry, most recently Outside the Frame: New and Selected Poems (Kelsay Books, 2021). Her essays and poems have also appeared in many anthologies and journals, including Poetry, Able Muse, Measure, Light, Rhino, Aesthetica, Mezzo Cammin, and the Potcake Chapbook poetry series. She has been awarded First Place in a number of national and international poetry competitions, including the Margaret Reid Award for verse in forms from Winning Writers, and the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest (2021 and 2023). She currently serves as an Associate Editor for Third Wednesday and Verse-Virtual poetry journals.
2024 Modern Sonnet Judge: Carol Clark Williams
Carol Clark Williams was third poet laureate of York, Pennsylvania, one of the founders of York Poets, and originator of the “Poetry Spoken Here” tent readings for the Yorkfest open air festival. Her work has won state, local, and national awards and is widely published online and in print. She is a Pushcart nominee and a rostered artist for Pennsylvania’s Arts in Education Program. Williams won the 2022 NFSPF Barbara Stevens Manuscript award for her book, Unpacking for the Journey. Beyond writing, her favorite occupations are teaching poetry workshops for Penn State Osher Lifelong Leaning Institute and hosting the Second Sunday Renascence Poetry Readings in conjunction with Creative York.
Some Thoughts on Defining a Modern Sonnet:
Modern sonnets are poems that violate one or more of the rules of traditional sonnets, but still contain what the Poetry Foundation website refers to as a “ghost” of the sonnet form. Modern sonnets may or may not be rhymed, and they may experiment with various meters or not use a regular meter at all. Usually they are 14 lines, but this may also vary slightly. Rules about subject matter are looser than in more traditional sonnets, although modern sonnets should offer some sort of final point or insight in the closing lines. If you have questions, the following articles and resources may help:
Rachel Richardson’s article, “Learning the Sonnet” on the Poetry Foundation’s website: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/70051/learning-the-sonnet
Litcharts article on sonnets: https://www.litcharts.com/literary-devices-and-terms/sonnet
Annie Finch’s article, “Chaos in Fourteen Lines:” https://www.cprw.com/Misc/finch2.htm
Stephanie Burt’s article in Slate: https://slate.com/culture/2019/05/terrance-hayes-sonnet-poetry-stephanie-burt.html?fbclid=IwAR2qSqnUxsnPtIDK16skYfcEUJR9APz1fZKITwxzBnka9dlBGQXp8uDlrTM