Announcing the 10^th Annual 30 for 30 Poetry Celebration for National Poetry Month

The tenth annual 30 for 30 Poetry Celebration, sponsored by Potomac Review, will once again take place this year on mikemaggio.net

This year’s challenge is as follows:

Write a poem in which everything you want to say is expressed solely through the use of images. Be sure that there are no abstractions (e.g. love, want, etc.) and, if there are, try to turn the abstractions into images. For examples, read some of the poems on this page:

https://poets.org/poets?school=446&field_school_movement_tid=446

Your poem should be no longer than 10 lines.

To participate, please follow these rules:

1. Send an email to mikemaggio@mikemaggio.net stating your intent to participate. Do not send any poems at this time.
2. The first 30 poets who respond to this call will be selected to submit their poem.
3. Once the 30-poet limit has been reached, I will randomly assign each poet a day in April when their poem will be due.
4. Poets must submit their poem at least one day before it is to be posted. Earlier submissions are welcome, but don’t rush your poem.
5. All poems must be written by the submitting author. Poems should not contain any racist or sexist language.
6. Poems must be submitted as a Word document or in RTF format (not in the text of the email).
7. Poets should include a short 1–2-line bio with their poem. A copyright statement should also be included (e.g., Copyright 2023 by [your name]).
8. All rights automatically revert to the author.
9. To promote community and discussion, readers and participants will be encouraged to    post comments on the web site about each of the poems.
10. At the end of the month, our judge will select the winning poem.
11. The winning poet will receive a free one-year subscription to Potomac Review.
12. All poems will be archived on mikemaggio.net.

This year’s judge is Derek Kannemeyer, winner of last year’s 30 for 30. His recent books include The Memory Addicts (a novel, 2022), A Betabestiary (light verse and prose commentaries, 2022), and Mutt Spirituals (poetry, 2021). Kirkus Reviews named his photography and non-fiction work Unsay Their Names one of its 100 Best Indie Books of 2022.

If you have any questions, please email mikemaggio@mikemaggio.net. I look forward to your participation.

And thanks to Albert Kapikian and Katherine Smith, the editors at Potomac Review,for once again sponsoring 30 for 30.