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The Garden Party Collective presents: Visual / Experimental Poetry Contest 

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For our upcoming January 2026 contest, collective member Mya Matteo Alexice has selected "Visual / Experimental Poetry": 

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"While the left-aligned, form-adherent, steady poem is one we of course love and cherish, poetry is, definitionally as a genre, expansive. So, give us your weird creatures bursting out of the traditional. Give us your poems with images, with sounds, with drawings, with music notation, with calligraphy, with collage, with source material, with strangeness, with shapes we’ve never seen before, with avant-garde magic.

 

Think Douglas Kearney. Think Olio. Think Steve McCaffery. Think Whereas. Think Citizen. Think of something unlike anything else we’ve seen before."

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Poetry Contest Details

SUBMISSION PERIOD: Contest opens January 2026 (final date TBD); please send your submissions to:

gardenpartycollectivecontests@gmail.com

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WHAT WE OFFER:

  • At least 3 poems will be picked as winners by the lead judge and the collective, with featured publication and promotion!

  • Each winning poet will have their choice between 1) a $50 payment, or 2) choosing a charity of their choice (either in their community or we can share a small list of reputable choices), which GPC will match for a total donation of $100!

    • Much love to ConcÄ«s for their charity-donation model as our inspiration 

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GUIDELINES: â€‹

All submission entries should be accompanied by a 2-4 sentence bio with any relevant links in the body of the email. Please include the titles of your poems in the body of the submission email, and attach your poetry contest manuscript as a pdf / doc / docx to the email.

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ADDITIONALLY: 

  • Entries must be ~3 pages max, with up to 3 poems

    • IE—at maximum, you can submit a single 3-page poem, OR three 1-page poems, OR a 2-pager and a 1-pager, etc.

    • All poems should be included in one document (not separately)

  • ​Please start each poem on a new page

  • No previously published work

  • Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but please keep us in the loop if you hear back elsewhere 

  • Please include your pronouns in your bio/submission so we can properly refer to you <3​

  • & one entry per person, please​

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Any entry received after the selected dates will not be considered for publication. We read every manuscript, and will select our winners within two months of submissions!​

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Thank you for your trust in us!!! 

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