Get Comfortable
Write a poem that celebrates what gives you comfort.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $5,000
- Second Place:
- $1,000
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $100
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Aug 18, 2022
Submissions closed
Oct 01, 2022 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Oct 15, 2022
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $5,000
- Second Place:
- $1,000
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $100
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Aug 18, 2022
Submissions closed
Oct 01, 2022 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Oct 15, 2022
About this challenge
Comfort is such a common pursuit, yet we all seek it in different forms and for different reasons. The form our comfort takes changes based on how old we are, our surroundings, our circumstances. Comfort may once have been a security blanket or a teddy bear; now it may be the smell of freshly-baked bread or your best friend’s smile. The feeling of sand between your toes or the first page of a favorite book. Comfort is both personal and universal, and, regardless of how we obtain it, it brings us all joy.
The Prompt:
Write a poem (between 100 and 2,000 words) that expresses what comfort means to you.
This is poetry that feels like a hug. Bring alive what’s most personal with vivid detail. Show us how you feel the sensation of comfort in action or imagination. We look forward to basking in your contentments and to sharing your comfort with the Vocal community.
The Prizes:
- Grand Prize: $5,000
- Second Place: $1,000
- 10 Runners-Up: $100
How to enter
For your poem to be eligible, it should be between 100 and 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 September 30, 2022, at 11:59 PM ET will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Get Comfortable Poetry 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.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Challenge resources
Whispering Woods Challenge Winners
Congratulations to Morgan Christy Rickards for their winning Whispering Woods story, Guardian at the Gate. Morgan has been a Vocal creator since February 2021, and this is their first time placing in Challenge — well done, starting with a win! Guardian at the Gate draws evocatively from Welsh tales of the Cantre'r Gwaelod, a lost sunken kingdom between the forest and the sea. Heledd’s dangerous adventure pulls her towards the water but her spirit is anchored in the woods: Morgan’s writing is atmospheric and exciting.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished a day ago in ResourcesSnacktime Sonata Challenge Winners
Well, your Snacktime Sonatas made us hungry, and that’s about the highest compliment we have. Food — taste, smell, sensation — is a powerful conduit to the past, to memories pleasurable and painful and sometimes bittersweet, a mixture of comfort and challenge. Congratulations to Penny Fuller for Sativa — it’s a first win for Penny — a hymn to the “secret, unbounded/freedoms” of fresh peas in the pod. The narrative voice of the poem doesn’t really want to be outside, but finds joy in the green things of the earth; this is a lovely work of resilience.
Vocal TeamPublished 7 days ago in Resources'The Dragon Beside Me' Challenge Winners.
"The Dragon Beside Me" has ignited the spirits of writers across the Vocal community and PViM have had the exciting opportunity to work beside our friends at Vocal on discerning the winners. No easy feat let us tell you. From initial shortlist to final deliberations, the standard was as high as our spirits.
Proud ViM ProductionsPublished 29 days ago in Resources