Poetry

Please also see the General Guidelines relevant to all categories.

Topic

Write original poetry that responds to, or reflects on, one or more experience(s) of the Holocaust as described by the survivors in The People Next Door or other Holocaust-related sources.

You may also respond to topic prompts from other categories.

Length

You may submit:

  1. a single poem of 20 – 24 lines; or

  2. a series of related poems totaling 25 – 30 lines.

Format

Poetry submissions should be formatted as follows:

  • Typed; line spacing of 1.15 to 1.5 at author’s discretion

  • Margins: 1.0” on all sides.

  • Font: Arial is preferred. (May also use Roboto, Helvetica, or Verdana)

  • Title: 16 point bold, center justified

  • Lines: 12 point normal; left justified (with exceptions at author’s discretion)

  • Author’s Block: Author, Grade, and School should appear a few lines below poem in 12-point italic.

  • See template for formatting examples.

Two File Types

Work must be saved and submitted as both PDF and Word.

File Naming

Please use the following conventions when naming your files. “Lastname” and “firstname” refers to the author’s first and last names. When including the title or the first words of the poem, please use only the first three words of the title or poem.

For poems with titles:

  • Lastname_firstname_title.doc

  • Lastname_firstname_title.pdf

For untitled poems:

  • Lastname_firstname_Untitled_firstwords.doc

  • Lastname_firstname_Untitled_firstwords.pdf

Examples:

  • Silverstein_Shel_Where_the_Sidewalk.doc

  • Silverstein_Shel_Where_the_Sidewalk.pdf

  • Ladin_Joy_Untitled_Yes_its_true.doc

  • Ladin_Joy_Untitled_Yes_its_true.pdf