The Medford Arts Center’s (MAC) 18th annual poetry contest for adults and its eighth annual poetry contest for high-school students is now open.
Adult contest entrants must be over the age of 18 and reside in Burlington or Camden counties. High-school entrants must attend school in Burlington and include their grade level and school. There is no fee to enter.
“To see a student recite their poetry in front of an audience with their family in attendance, it’s a beautiful expression of art,” said Vince Dispenza, co-chair of the MAC’s poetry program. “The arts center itself is a beautiful home for art, but we try to especially focus on literature and poetry so that the community has a place to go to express themselves.”
Dispenza and wife Naomi, co-chair of the MAC’s poetry program, started volunteering at the center in 2015. Two years later, Vince entered and won the MAC’s 10th annual poetry contest. During the awards celebration, he and Naomi saw the outpouring of attendance and the embrace of poetry that inspired them to start hosting monthly poetry gatherings, something that became an opportunity for poets and people within the group to enjoy.
The next gathering will be held at the MAC on Friday, Oct. 24, at 7:15 p.m. For more information, visit www.medfordarts.com/poetry-gathering.html.
“What’s beautiful in terms of what we hear and how it feels to watch someone share their poetry – both in the gatherings and in the contests – there have been situations in which the person has never shared their words at all,” Naomi noted. “They have the opportunity to share and be acknowledged and appreciated in a situation that they had never even attempted before, even standing in front of a group of people.
“That’s really neat to see, because there’s pride there and there’s a sense of, ‘I did it.’”
Each high-schooler may submit up to three poems to poetrycontest@medfordarts.com, using 2025 High School Poetry Contest in the subject line, and include name, address, email address, high school, grade and contact number.
Residents of Camden and Burlington counties over the age of 18 may each submit up to three poems to the same address as above, with 2025 Adult Poetry Contest in the subject line, and must also include name, residential address, email and contact number. The submission deadline is Friday, Oct. 24.
Any form of poetry is acceptable. All submitted work must be original – as well as the work of the poet entering the contest – and not previously published. An awards ceremony will take place at the MAC on Monday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. Awards will be presented to the winners of both the adult and teen contest: First place is $200, second is $150 and third is $100.
The high-school contest is sponsored by Payton Press LLC, and the adult poetry contest is sponsored by Therapeutic Massage and Wellness with Naomi LLC. For more information, visit www.medfordarts.com/poetry-contests.html.
“Poetry is a very personal art, I believe,” Vince observed. “It’s very introspective, and for people to feel comfortable to share their innermost thoughts is a tribute to the MAC and to the community that we’ve created of artists that embrace that type of outpouring.”
“I’m always amazed at the end of each (poetry) gathering that … sometimes we’ll have a group of people that all know each other because they’ve come each month, and sometimes there are new people that come in …” Naomi offered. “And by the end of the gathering, there’s laughter among us, there’s sharing … And by the end, these strangers are within the circle of creative souls, and they feel connected.
“There’s a real connection with these gatherings, through words, but through also that humanity.”
