City of Modesto Poets' Corner Reading & Reception
2024-05-19 13:00 - 15:30 (America/Los_Angeles) | McHenry Museum, 1402 14th St, Modesto, CA, 95354, United States
Join us at the McHenry Museum for a reception and reading for the annual Poets’ Corner contest.
When: Sunday, May 19, 2024
Where: McHenry Museum
Time: 1:00 pm
A copy of the Poets’ Corner anthology will be available to contributors.
Presented by the City of Modesto with assistance from the Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center

City of Modesto Poets' Corner contest deadline
2025-04-04
The Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods Department and the City of Modesto’s Poets’ Corner Committee are pleased to offer an Annual Poets’ Corner Contest.

Entries Due byFriday, April 4, 2025.

Contest Winners

Winners will be notified by email (or mail, when email is unavailable.)

Poets will be invited to read their winning poems on Sunday, June 1, 2025 at 1:00 P.M. at the McHenry Museum, followed by light refreshments.

Winning poems will be printed in a booklet that will be placed in the Poets’ Bookshelf, which contains published works by local writers and will be kept at the McHenry Museum. Each winner will receive a copy of the booklet.

Who May Enter

Rules

Submissions

Deadline

Poets of any age who reside in Stanislaus County

General: Any kind of poetry on any subject, unrhymed or rhymed. Free verse and formal poetry is welcome. Group of three haiku accepted as one entry.

Special: The Natural World — beautiful, destructive, sustaining. Write about nature — the wildness of it, the beauty of it, how it inspires and moves us, or how it can destroy with thoughtless abandon.

City of Modesto Poets' Corner Reading & Reception
2025-06-01 13:00 - 15:00 | McHenry Museum, 1402 14th St, Modesto, CA, 95354, United States
The Parks, Recreation and Neighborhoods Department and the City of Modesto’s Poets’ Corner Committee are pleased to offer an Annual Poets’ Corner Contest.
Contest Winners
Poets will be invited to read their winning poems on Sunday, June 1, 2025 at 1:00 P.M. at the McHenry Museum, followed by light refreshments.
Winning poems will be printed in a booklet that will be placed in the Poets’ Bookshelf, which contains published works by local writers and will be kept at the McHenry Museum. Each winner will receive a copy of the booklet.
Winners will be notified by email (or mail, when email is unavailable.)
For more info go to https://www.modestogov.com/558/Poets-Corner-Contest

Mini Workshop for Teen Poets: How to Write a Tiny Poem
2025-12-13 13:00 - 13:30
Woven Words Tiny Poem Contest: Teen Voices from the Central Valley, presented by MoSt Poetry’s Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate program, is now open for submissions from Stanislaus County high school students grades 9-12.
Poets are invited to submit 1-3 very short poems (3-5 lines). The contest is free and open to anyone living in or attending high schools in Stanislaus County.
The author of the winning poem in each of the five categories wins $50. Poets are also invited to submit poems to the anthology without connecting them to the contest themes. The contest deadline is January 31, 2026. Stanislaus County YPL Valentina Zeff will weave the short submissions together to create one book-length poem, to be published as an anthology and distributed to participants.
Zeff will be conducting a mini-workshop on writing a tiny poem and will discuss the contest on Saturday, December 13, 202, at 1:00 pm on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81498958531
The Stanislaus Youth Poet Laureate program is presented by MoSt Poetry in partnership with SCOE, Stanislaus County Library, MJC’s School of Language Arts & Education and the Library & Learning Center, and the Stanislaus Library Foundation.

Mini-Workshop for Teens: Write a Tiny Poem - Contest Deadline Jan. 31
2026-01-17 13:00 - 14:00
Mini Workshop & Youth Poet Laureate Q & A
Valentina Zeff, current Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate, answers your questions!
Teens are invited to join Valentina on Zoom on one (or both!) of these two dates: Saturday, January 17 and Saturday, January 24, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Valentina shares great tips on how to write a tiny poem for the Woven Words Teen Contest.
Then you can easily submit your poems to our contest! Deadline for that is January 31, 2026.
Feel free to drop in and meet Valentina and learn about the Woven Words: Teen Voices from the Central Valley Anthology.

January 17 Zoom Meeting
January 24 Zoom Meeting

Write a Tiny Poem Workshop Postponed until February--date TBA
2026-01-31 13:00 - 14:00
Mini Workshop & Youth Poet Laureate Q & A

Zoom workshop has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstance. Please return to this page to see future workshops during the month of February!
WOVEN WORDS Youth Poetry Contest deadline extended: February 28, 2026.

Valentina Zeff, current Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate, answers your questions!

Join us on Saturday, January 24, 2026 January 31, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. as Youth Poet Laureate Valentina Zeff shares tips on how to write a tiny poem for the Woven Words Teen Contest.

Then you can easily submit your poems to our contest!

Feel free to drop in and meet Valentina and learn about the Woven Words: Teen Voices from the Central Valley Anthology and how you can submit poems for the contest.

Write a Tiny Poem: Workshop with Youth Poet Laureate Valentina Zeff
2026-02-28 13:00 | Zoom
Tiny Poem Workshop With Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate Valentina Zeff. All are welcome!
Learn how to write a tiny poem + enjoy a Q&A with the Youth Poet Laureate. Find out how to submit your poems to the contest. The Woven Words Tiny Poem Contest is FREE and open to teens who live in or attend high school in Stanislaus County. The contest is a publication opportunity–the entries will be woven into a larger poem and published in a book, and we will celebrate together a bit later in the spring!
PLUS YOU CAN WIN PRIZES–top poem in each theme wins $50. Note: all poems will be accepted for publication. Please see contest guidelines for details.
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85093492645

Aileen Jaffa Young Poets Contest Deadline
2026-04-03
Co-sponsored by Modesto-Stanislaus Poetry Center and National League of American Pen Women, Modesto Chapter
Cash awards will be given in each of four categories: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12
Stanislaus County students in grades K-12 can submit up to 3 poems with an entry fee] of $1 per poem. Each poem must be the student’s original creative work, 24 lines or less in any style. Submit 2 copies of each poem, one without the student’s name and one with the student’s name plus an attached entry form. Poems entered in the Aileen Jaffa Young Poets Contest cannot be simultaneously submitted to the Poets’ Corner Contest or any other poetry contest. Submissions must be postmarked by the April 3, 2026 deadline.
Please visit Aileen Jaffa Young Poets Contest for full contest rules.

Poetry on Saturday with Sheila Landre and Cleo Griffith
2026-05-16 14:00 | Carnegie Arts Center, 250 N. Broadway, Turlock, CA, 95380, United States
Join us Saturday May 16 as we welcome Sheila Landre and Cleo Griffith to our Poetry on Saturday series! Both have new collections of poetry, from which they will share poems.
