The Thanksgiving weekend is an ideal time to compose an entry or three for the second annual Rainshadow Poetry Contest, organizer Ruth Marcus writes.
In her invitation to people of all ages and experience levels, she adds that “everyone has an inner poet.”
And everyone in Clallam and Jefferson counties is encouraged to send up to three poems to the competition by the entry deadline of 5 p.m. Jan. 22.
Each poem can be up to 30 lines including the title and any blank lines.
Entries must be typed and sent with the contest fee of $5 for students, $10 for adults and $7 for seniors 65 and older.
“This harvest holiday season brings up a range of emotion — gratitude, loneliness, sadness and joy,” Marcus writes.
“Some spend the holidays alone. Some gather with family and friends. Some spend the day hiking mountains or meandering along beaches.
“It’s a great time of year to express feelings using poetry,” she said.
“Get out your pen and write a poem that expresses your experience of the harvest and the Thanksgiving holiday.”
Free workshops
Marcus noted too that free poetry-writing workshops will be offered at the Port Angeles and Sequim libraries in early January.
Dates and times for the classes, which will include sessions for adults and youngsters, will be announced.
Winners of the contest will be published in the 2016 Rainshadow Poetry Anthology, to go on sale April 1.
The poets will be invited to partake in a public reading at Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave., in Sequim, on May 1.
Contest guidelines await at www.rainshadowpoetry.com, or prospective entrants can email rainshadowpoets2016@gmail.com and visit the Rainshadow Poetry page on Facebook for information.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
