Poetry in the Garden

Poetry in the Garden is suspended until further notice due to COVID-19.

National Poetry Month in April is the largest literary celebration in the world and was established in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets. Celebrate it in style in Mount Dora this year at the Warner Brown Annual Poetry Contest Poetry in the Garden, on Sunday, March 1, 2020 at 2:00pm, with all winning entries posted in the Library's Lobby Gallery in March, leading up to National Poetry Month.

Award Ceremony Program:

Laura Sobbott Ross, Lake County Library System's Poet Laureate, will read selections from her own poetry as well as make a few remarks. 

Poetry Contest finalists' entries will be read prior to the awarding of prizes.

Laura Sobbott Ross has worked as a teacher and a writing coach for Lake County Schools and was recently named as Lake County's first poet laureate. Her poetry appears in over a hundred literary journals, including Blackbird, Florida Review, and 32 Poems. She was a finalist for the Art & Letters Poetry Prize and won the Southern Humanities Auburn Witness Poetry Prize. She's been nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize. Her poetry chapbooks are A Tiny Hunger and My Mississippi. A third book, The Graffiti of Pompeii, was released last December. Laura Sobbott Ross is the first Poet Laureate for the Lake County Library System.

Poetry Contest

All are welcome to enter the contest. There are two age categories: Below 18 and 18 & Over. The following prizes will be awarded:

1st place $30

2nd place: $20

3rd place: $15

Honorable mention(s)

The Submission deadline is Sunday, February 15, 2020. All submission are to be emailed to the Library to this email address: library@cityofmountdora.com. The top three finalists in both age categories will be invited to read their entries at the Award Ceremony. Finalists may also ask the judges to read their entries for them. The Poetry Contest will be judged by Laura Sobbott Ross.

Poetry Contest Guidelines

The entry parameters are the same for both age groups. Entrants must have a Lake County Library System library card in good standing. Poems must be 40 lines or less, submitted in 12 point font using Microsoft Word file format. A standard entry format of one cover page with the entrant's contact information and a separate document for the poem submitted. Entrants may submit one poem only in this contest.

Entries must be submitted by Sunday, February 15, 2020. Finalists will be notified after Sunday, February 22, 2020 but before Sunday, March 1, 2020.

Poetry in the Garden is sponsored by the Mount Dora Library Association.