Fall Contests
Fall Competitions, Submissions open October 15. Deadline November 15
Prizes will be awarded at the February meeting or mailed to those not in attendance.
Please note that some contests are open to PSSC members only. We'd love to have you
you as a member, and you can join here: https://www.poetrysocietysc.org/membership
The DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Society Prize: $500.
Offered for a poem of any style or nature. Open to PSSC members only.
Sponsor: The DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Foundation
The Starkey Flythe, Jr., Memorial Prize: $200.
Offered for a poem of any style or subject matter. Open to anyone.
Sponsors: The Augusta Poetry Group and Friends of Starkey Flythe, Jr.
Know Rhyme and Reason Contest: $250.
For a poem on any subject in which the author believes the use of rhyme and/or of rhyme and meter helped sharpen the poet’s pencil to make the poem’s point more forceful, succinct, or amusing. Open to PSSC members only.
Sponsor: Anonymous
The John Edward Johnson Prize: $50.
Offered for a poem of any style or nature on a religious theme or subject. Open to anyone.
Sponsor: Thomas L. Johnson
The Perception Prize: $75.
Offered for a poem of any style or nature relating to how we encounter the world through our senses. Open to PSSC members only.
Sponsor: Ann-Chadwell Humphries
The Marjorie E. Peale Prize: $100.
Offered for a poem of any style that draws on the landscape, history, or spirit of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Open to anyone.
Sponsor: Marjory E. Peale
Stephanie Ellen Siler Memorial Prize: $100.
Any style or theme, preferably a poem that tells a story. prize. Open to PSSC members only.
Sponsor: Ellen Jenks
The Klyde Robinson Poetry Prize: $200.
Offered for a poem relating to Charleston, SC. Open to anyone.
Sponsor: The Robinson Family
The Susan Laughter Meyers Summer Scholarship*
Application Deadline: November 15
Application for the summer scholarship is open to any current PSSC adult member, except previous winners; online submission only, no application fee. The three-day conference—held each year in mid-July at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC—gives writers an opportunity to study in a workshop setting, generate new work, attend faculty readings, and more. Please see the Scholarship page for guidelines and additional information.
*The 2021 conference was held virtually due to COVID. We do not yet know if 2022 will be virtual or in person.