
A poet reads to an audience at The Copper Courier poetry open mic at Meraki Kava Bar on Aug. 7, 2024. (Photo by Jessica Swarner)
This year’s Copper Courier poetry contest has a theme: “Arizona.”
Want to share your writing with the world?
We’re launching our third annual Copper Courier poetry contest, and the winner of the competition will be invited to be a featured reader at our July 2 open mic at Meraki Kava Bar in north Phoenix.
The top three submissions will be published on our website, shared in our newsletter, and posted on our social media accounts—reaching a total audience of over 300,000 people!
We’ve had so much fun with these contests over the last two years, and we feel privileged to be able to highlight the poetic talent we have in the state. Part of The Copper Courier’s mission is to protect democracy by strengthening communities, and we believe sharing art is an important part of that!
RELATED: Meet the winners of The Copper Courier’s second annual poetry contest
Last year, we received 100 submissions, and I’m hoping to top that number this year.
Submitting is easy—anyone who lives in Arizona can head to this form and give us either one written poem, or a video presenting a poem, by May 31.
One note, though: This year’s contest has a theme, and it’s “Arizona.” That can mean a lot of different things, so feel free to interpret it in the way you’d like.
The Copper Courier judges will evaluate poems based on things like uniqueness, lyricism, memorable imagery, emotional depth, and adherence to the theme. But they don’t have to be totally serious—we love a funny poem, too!
Even if you’ve never shared your work before, feel free to send something our way. You never know what words may connect with us and our audience.
Good luck. We can’t wait to read your work!
Submit here!Support Our Cause
Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for Arizonans and our future.
Since day one, our goal here at The Copper Courier has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of Arizona families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.


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