Epistolary
Write a poem in letter form.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Apr 13, 2023
Submissions closed
Apr 29, 2023 3:59 AM CUT
Results
May 18, 2023
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Apr 13, 2023
Submissions closed
Apr 29, 2023 3:59 AM CUT
Results
May 18, 2023
About this challenge
The Prompt
Write a poem in letter form. Begin with a greeting (e.g. Dear X,) and end with a closing signature (e.g. Sincerely, X).
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
How to enter
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.
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Challenge resources
Summer Solstice Challenge Winners
‘Safety Net’, by Meredith Harmon, begins in a confiding tone. ‘What town?’ the tale asks. ‘We're an enclave. We're farmers. We till the soil like our forefathers, and our children's children's children will till it, till the end of time.’ There is a folkloric sensibility here, suited to the prompt, but also something contemporary and practical. This winning story of a community trying to protect and preserve itself has echoes of Shirley Jackson’s famous tale ‘The Lottery’, Meredith is a strong Vocal Creator with 225 stories to her name; and this is her second first place win of a challenge; huge congratulations.
By Vocal Curation Team9 days ago in Resources
Let's Talk About AI and Vocal Challenges
We might as well cut to the chase. Yes, we run every challenge entry through our AI detector; if we find an entry has been generated, it’s disqualified. As Justin Maury, Founder/CEO of Vocal has written, we use these detection systems because we know our readers enjoy authentic content; we also ask you to disclose when you’ve posted on the platform using AI assistance. But a different issue comes into play when we’re thinking about Challenges, and we believe it’s an important one.
By Vocal Curation Team11 days ago in Resources
Dialogue Poetry Challenge Winners
Hannah Moore is a first-time grand prize winner with her dialogue poem, On Receipt of Bad News. This was a poem that genuinely engaged both with the exchange of our prompt, but also focussed on the way poetic rhythms of language could support the writer's conceit. It felt very truthful, too, the way one speaker wishes to ignore the news and focus on practicalities; there was a quiet heartbreak, here. Well done.
By Vocal Curation Team15 days ago in Resources