Epistolary

The Prompt

An epistolary poem is a type of poetry written in the form of a personal letter. It is addressed to a specific person, to an imagined reader, to a general audience, or even a thing. In an epistolary poem, the poet often uses the first-person point of view to create a sense of intimacy and directness.

Epistolary poems can be written on a variety of topics, such as love, friendship, politics, and social issues. For this challenge, you get to decide the topic, who the letter is addressed to, and signed by. You can learn more about epistolary poems here.

This challenge was inspired by Korina Camel's contribution to Shape the Future of Vocal Challenges. Thank you, Korina!

In order for your submission to qualify, it must be:

*There is no minimum word count.*

The Prizes

• Grand Prize: $1,000
• Second Place: $250
• 10 Runners-Up: $25

For your poem to be eligible, it should be in letter form, under 2,000 words, submitted to the Poets Community, and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Poems published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until April 28, 2023, at 11:59 PM ET will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The Epistolary Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or runners-up prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.