Enter by September 19
Last updated Monday, August 25, 2025 at 12:11 AM
For those who save their best writing for last, the time is near for local scribes to enter the 49th annual Bucks County Poet Laureate contest, according to Bucks County Community College (BCCC) officials.
Professor Ethel Rackin, director of the longest-running poet laureate program in Pennsylvania, is encouraging writers to get their creative juices flowing and enter by September 19. Entrants must be Bucks County residents over age 18 who have never previously served as poet laureate, explained Rackin, a language and literature professor at BCCC, which administers the program.
Each entrant must submit an entry form with 10 original poems of any style, form, or length to the College’s School of Language and Literature. Entries must be submitted online by Friday, September 19.
The winner receives a $500 honorarium, a proclamation from the Bucks County Commissioners, and a reading and reception at Bucks County Community College with 2024 Poet Laureate Lake Angela, contest judges, and contest runners-up.
Two judges will blindly select the winner. The preliminary judge will narrow the entries down to a few dozen for the final judge, who will choose the winner and three runners-up from the pool of finalists.
There is no charge for entry. All work must be original and can be published or unpublished. All entries must be submitted online by September 19. For more information, contact Ethel Rackin at Ethel.Rackin@bucks.edu.