2026 Youth Poetry Contest

Poetry Contest Details

Students in kindergarten through grade 12 are invited to participate in The Westport Garden Club's 2026 Youth Poetry Contest, presented in partnership with the Westport Arts Advisory Committee, Westport Poet Laureate Donna Disch, and The Westport Library.

The contest is affiliated with the National Garden Club’s Youth Poetry Contest and enables youth to embrace their creativity through the art of writing. The theme for the 2026 competition is: "Plant America for the next 100 years."

All entries should be submitted via email to [email protected]. The deadline for this contest is Monday, January 12, 2026. (Please note: The deadline has been extended from the previous deadline of January 5.)

Poems selected by a jury committee will be submitted to the regional organization, New England Garden Clubs.  The region's final selections will then be submitted for National Garden Club Awards where winning entries will be compiled into an e-book and made available to the winners.

Students are also invited to join us for a National Poetry Month celebration featuring the finalists from the competition on Sunday, April 19, at 2 pm. The young poets will read their work along with Westport's Poet Laureate, Donna Disch, who will lead a workshop where participants will write their own poems.

Click here to read the winning entries of the 2025 Youth Poetry Contest.

Who Can Enter

• Students in kindergarten through 12th grade
• This includes public and private schools, home-schooled students, special education, English as a Second Language, and general education students.

Westport youth in grades K-12 compete by grade level in one of three categories:

• General Education
• Special Education
• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Guidelines for Entries

• All entries must be typed and titled.
• Include the participant's name, address, age, grade, and school on the entry and the preferred email address for correspondence.
• All entries become the property of National Garden Clubs, Inc.
• Poems do not have to rhyme.
• Poems may be traditional verse, acrostics, blank verse, cinquains, diamond poems, limericks, or Haiku.
• The theme should not be used as the title of any poetry. (When judging, the title is worth 10 points.)
• Poems should be submitted by email to: [email protected] by January 12, 2026.

Scale of Points

• Title: 10%
• Content: 40%
• Creativity: 30%
• Style: 20%

About the Westport Garden Club

Affiliated with the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut, Inc., and National Garden Clubs, Inc., The Westport Garden Club was founded in 1924 and consists of members who are united by an interest in gardening, a desire to further their gardening knowledge, participate in civic beautification and to promote conservation and environmental education.

For more information, visit westportgardenclub.org.

About the Westport Arts Advisory Committee

The Westport Arts Advisory Committee is appointed by the First Selectman, WAAC advises on the preservation of Westport’s legacy as an arts community, oversight of the Town Art Collection and ways to increase the visibility of the arts in our community.  The Town of Westport Poet Laureate serves as an ambassador for both the town and for the literary form, helping to celebrate and continue the town’s vibrant literary history. The First Selectwoman’s office appoints the Poet Laureate; WAAC administers the program. The current Poet Laureate is Donna Disch. For more information, visit westportarts.org.