Arts & Entertainment

Entries Still Accepted for Cobb Library Poetry Contest

Contest winners and runners up will meet the U.S. Poet Laureate next month.

Young Cobb County residents with a flair for poetry are invited to submit entries to the Mary Ellen Wright Poetry Contest, co-sponsored by the Cobb Library Foundation and the Marietta Daily Journal.

The contest is named after Mary Ellen Wright, a longtime Cobb County resident, patron of the arts, and poet, who passed away in 2011. The Cobb Library Foundation received a donation from a friend of Wright's, who stipulated the money go towards the art of poetry.

Two categories have been established in the contest that bears Wright's name; one for students about to enter grades three through six, and a category for students about to enter grades seven through 12. 

According to the Cobb Library Foundation, the judging criteria are as follows:

  • Originality, flavor, and word choice.
  • Imaginative and/or informative.
  • Focus (coherence, movement, flow)
  • Engaging and/or entertaining content.
  • Usage (spelling, punctuation, grammar).
One winner will be selected from the two age categories and will receive $100, an engraved plaque, and their poem published in the Marietta Daily Journal. Runners up in each category will win $25. 

All contest winners and runners up will be invited to attend the Cobb Library Foundation's Booked at Six event on Aug. 6, where they will receive their prizes from the hand of Natasha Trethewey, the current U.S. Poet Laureate.

Entries for the Mary Ellen Wright Poetry Contest must be submitted at a branch library or through mail by 5 p.m. on July 21. Each entry must be accompanied with this permission slip. Please mail entries to Cobb Library Foundation attn: Terri Capote 266 Roswell St. Marietta, GA 30060.


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