The Milwaukee Public Library and the Milwaukee Public Museum will unite their poetry competitions and ask participants to consider the guiding question for Milwaukee’s Field Work project: How do you see the natural world you live in?

Milwaukee youth ages 7-18 are encouraged to submit an original poem to this year’s Poetry Contest online at mpl.org/poetrycontest from March 1 through April 15. Prizes will be awarded to the top three in each age category: 7-9, 10-12, 13-15, and 16-18.
1st Place Prize: $50 gift card
2nd Place Prize: $25 gift card
3rd Place Prize: $15 gift card
Winners in each category will also receive two free admission passes to the Museum.

Please see refer to the Poetry Contest Teacher Lesson Guide and Student Guide for more details.

Contest Rules

Must be age 7-18 to participate in the contest. Participants must be Milwaukee County residents to be eligible. Entries must address the question “How do you see yourself in the natural world?” to be eligible. Individuals can only win one prize in contest. Entries must be submitted online only. All submissions must be original works written by the young person submitting the entry. Each individual can only submit one entry. Entries may be edited for publication purposes. The student’s contact information, including name, age, phone, and email address must appear at the top right corner of each page of the poem. ​​​​​​​If the work is submitted by the student’s teacher, the name of the school, the teacher’s name and e-mail address, the student’s name and age, and school phone number must appear at the top right corner of each page of the poem.