2024 National Poetry Contest for Social Workers Accepting Submissions

Submissions for the 2024 contest are OPEN! Submit poetry here. Deadline: 2/17/24

     The University of Iowa School of Social Work conducts an annual, nationwide poetry contest to acknowledge the creative talent of social workers and to draw attention to social work as a profession. “Hosting the national poetry contest here in Iowa City is a natural extension of what the School of Social Work has been doing for decades,” says School of Social Work Professor Mercedes Bern-Klug, one of the contest’s founders. “We have been offering a Creative Writing Workshop for social workers for more than 30 years, and the University of Iowa is known as ‘The Writing University.’ In Iowa City — recognized internationally as a UNESCO City of Literature — writing is the air we breathe.”

Rules for Submission

• Students, faculty, or alumni from United States CSWE-accredited social work programs may participate in the contest.
• There is no cost to enter.
• Only one submission is allowed per person.
• The poem must be an original work by the person entering the contest.
• All entries will be judged by a panel consisting of social workers, writers, and/or poets based on poetic technique, effectiveness, style, and creativity, as well as accessibility and suitability for public display before a general audience.
• The deadline for submissions is Saturday, February 17, 2024, by 11:59 pm CST. 
• The poem must be no more than 15 lines (the title does NOT count as one of the 15). 
• An excerpt from a longer poem will be considered if it can stand alone.
• If reprint permissions are required, please get permission prior to submitting your work.
• Poems must be submitted online. No paper or email submissions will be accepted.

     The top three submissions will be awarded cash prizes and will be published on The New Social Worker website during National Poetry Month, in April 2024. Submissions that meet the contest criteria may also be published on the University of Iowa School of Social Work website and/or social media.

• First Prize: $200
• Second Prize: $100
• Third Prize: $50

Questions? Write to mercedes-bern-klug@uiowa.edu or call 319-335-1265.