It’s March, when a young poet’s fancy turns to thoughts of the ACES National Grammar Day Poetry Contest.
The annual contest attracts scores of verses about grammar, usage and style. For some examples, check out the 2022 winner and entries.
National Grammar Day is Saturday, March 4, and the contest is open right now. The deadline to submit is 5 p.m. EST on Friday, March 3.
The contest has traditionally existed on Twitter, but this year we’re trying a new approach. We’ll post entries on various social media platforms, and we encourage you to do the same with the #GrammarDay hashtag, but we’re asking for official entries through a Google Form.
Observe Grammar Day by submitting your poems of 250 characters or less. We have done haiku, limerick, quatrain, and this year we are keeping it open-ended. The caveat: whatever form of poetry you write must be under 250 characters. Only original, previously unpublished poems will be accepted.
You can read and enjoy all the entries as they come in here.
Winners will be announced at noon on March 4, the date chosen for National Grammar Day because it is a complete and grammatically correct sentence when written “March forth.” As in, “march forth and celebrate National Grammar Day.”
Our celebrity judges might pay attention to meter or rhyme, some might prefer free verse to haiku, but submit in whatever poetry form makes you happy. Entries will be mostly judged on how well they make a point about the language: grammar, usage, typos, writing, editing — whatever inspires you.
The winning poet will receive a variety of goodies perfect for any word lover, including a link for free access to the LinkedIn Learning course “Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing,” a one-year membership to ACES: The Society for Editing, and complimentary registration to the ACES virtual conference Sept. 27-29, 2023. The winning poem will be featured on Mignon Fogarty’s Grammar Girl podcast.
Other prizes include a copy of one of Fogarty’s Grammar Girl books, a copy of Iva Cheung’s new book of editorial cartoons, and a “Let’s Have a Word Chat” mug from “That Word Chat.”
You can read all the 2022 Grammar Day Contest entries here: https://wke.lt/w/s/SNj8fX.
