Spark! Youth Poetry Competition
Each year, Nevada Humanities invites Clark County high school students to present three original poems to be judged by a panel of poets, authors, educators, and other community members. The Spark! Youth Poetry Competition takes place at the Las Vegas Book Festival in October. The top three students are selected as first, second, and third-place winners.
2024 Spark! Guidelines
High school students in grades 9 to 12 residing in Clark County, Nevada, are invited to present their original poems during the Las Vegas Book Festival in the Poetry Pavilion on Saturday, October 19, 2024. Students will be asked to present three of their own original poems to be judged by a panel of poets, authors, educators, and other community members. Panelists will use a scoring rubric to assign numerical values to the evaluation criteria. The top three highest-scoring students will determine first, second, and third place.
Rounds: There will be three presentation rounds. All students will present one poem in the first round. The top six students will present in the second round. The top three students will present in the third round to determine first, second, and third place. Scores will be cumulative.
Awards:
First Place - $300 cash award
Second Place - $200 cash award
Third Place - $100 cash award
Timeline:
Competition opens on August 1, 2024.
Student Submission Deadline: October 14, 2024.
Recitation Presentation & Awards: Saturday, October 19, 2024, 1:00 - 3:00 pm PT.
Location: Poetry Pavilion
Las Vegas Book Festival, Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. Fourth St., Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Eligibility:
All high school-aged students (grades 9 - 12) who are residents of Clark County, Nevada.
Poetry Guidelines:
Types of poems that may be presented: prose poetry, free verse, structured poetry (sonnets, sestinas, tankas, cinquains, villanelles, etc.), and spoken word.
Poems do not have to be memorized to be presented.
Time limit of up to 3 minutes per poem.
Props, costumes, and music are not allowed.
Please consider that this is a public audience of all ages when choosing your poems to present.
Poems must be the artist's own original work, created solely by the artist, not generated by artificial means, does not infringe on any intellectual property rights or plagiarize another's work. Work is not defamatory.
Submittal Information - Deadline: October 14, 2024
Students must register to participate in the competition. Students must also sign this release form. A parent or guardian must also sign the form if the student is under 18.
Questions?
Contact Bobbie Ann Howell at bahowell@nevadahumanities.org or 702-800-4670.