By ALICIA FEYERHERM
Tiger Media Network
FHSU Poet Laureate Eileen Veatch is inviting poets of all ages to submit their work for a chance to be featured at the Winter Art Walk on December 7.
The contest is divided into two age groups: poets under 18 and those 18 and older. Awards will be presented in four categories: Emotional, Humorous, Christmas/Holiday, and Rhyme.
“If there is any student out there that is hesitant to participate, just send it,” Veatch said. “The chances are you are not alone in whatever you have written, and someone out there is going to relate. Sharing your writing and being vulnerable is hard, but it creates such a strong community around people.”
Submissions must be sent to fhsu.poet.laureate.24@gmail.com before 11:59 p.m. on Friday. Include the poet’s last name and poem title in the email subject line, and in the body of the email, include the poet’s full name, address, title of poem and category. Poems can be submitted in .docx or .pdf file format. Contest entries cannot exceed one page and are limited to one submission per person. Poems will be judged for creativity, message, and imagery.
Winners in each category will have the opportunity to read their poem at the Hays Public Library during the Winter Art Walk on December 7. If a winner cannot attend, Veatch will read the poem on their behalf.
Selected as FHSU Poet Laureate last spring, Veatch has been looking forward to facilitating events like this.
“The moment I applied for this position, I knew I wanted to do something big,” Veatch said.
Since Veatch has assumed the position, she has found many people are unaware of what the FHSU Poet Laureate position entails.
“I hope that by creating and hosting an event like this, it can at least inform people of Hays of what the position of Poet Laureate does, which is to share and bring awareness to poetry and the love of writing it,” Veatch said.