Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay teens ages 13 to 18 can enter a countywide poetry contest starting Monday, with workshops to help them get started.

Contest open to teens across the county

The Miami-Dade Public Library System and Mayor Daniella Levine Cava's office are sponsoring the Poetry Contest for Teens, according to the Pinecrest Tribune. Participants write a sonnet about freedom inspired by Miami, the United States or both. The contest marks America's 250th anniversary and Teentober, the library system's annual celebration of teen readers.

Submissions open Monday and close Oct. 17. Winners will be announced Nov. 14.


Sonnet format leaves room for creativity

The format is a nontraditional sonnet, meaning any 14-line poem. Teens can collaborate with a partner.

"I just need you to write 14 lines," Nicole Tallman, Miami-Dade's third Poet Laureate and a senior advisor to the mayor, told the Pinecrest Tribune. "We can figure out how to edit it from there … If you can't, then you can collaborate."

Poets, past laureates will judge entries

Tallman will judge entries alongside two former Miami-Dade Poet Laureates: Richard Blanco, who wrote "One Today" for President Barack Obama's second inauguration, and Caridad Moro-Gronlier, associate editor of the online poetry journal SWWIM Every Day.

Workshops offer help before the deadline

Several workshops lead up to the deadline:

  • Sept. 18: Screening of "Poetry City," a documentary about Miami's poetry scene, followed by a Q&A with poet Oscar Fuentes, known as the Biscayne Poet, and Tallman. Location and time have not been announced.
  • Sept. 19, 3-4 p.m.: Free virtual Sonnet Workshop taught by Tallman.
  • Oct. 2, 3:30-5 p.m.: Community Poetry Workshop for Teens with Fuentes at the North Dade Regional Library.
  • Oct. 3, 10:30-11:30 a.m.: "Sonnet Writing Workshop in the Insta Age" with Moro-Gronlier at the Westchester Regional Library, 9445 Coral Way, Miami.

Where to find full contest details

Registration requirements for the workshops have not been announced. The library system posted on X directing teens to mdpls.org for contest guidelines and workshop details.