FAQs

What’s the timeline for the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards?

• January 1, 2025: Submissions portal opens
• May 1, 2025: Submissions close
• May-July: Judging process takes place
• Mid-August: Winners and honorable mentions are notified
• September 13, 2025: Awards ceremony in Chicago

What happens if I win?

Winning poets will be notified before the end of August. Awardees and their families will receive prize packages including a cash award, poetry books, and a copy of a chapbook produced by Illinois Humanities that includes all of the winning poems. Awardees will also be invited to join us at the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards Ceremony in Chicago taking place in September, where poets will get to read their poems live. Poets who are unable to attend the ceremony live may also submit a video of their poetry reading to be played at the event.

Can I submit a poem without creating a login?

Yes! Click the “Submit Poem Here” button at the top of the page. Then, click the blue “Skip and Login as a Guest” button on the left side of the page. Please note that you will not be able to save your work if you are disrupted as you fill out the application. We recommend you write your poem in a word processing program (e.g., Microsoft Word) and then upload the file into the form.

Can I submit on behalf of a youth poet?

Are you a parent/guardian or an educator for K-12 students? If yes, then you can submit poems on behalf of your students for consideration in the competition. If you are a teacher who would like to submit a large number of student poems at once, please use the instructions for a bulk submission.

How do I submit a large number of poems at once (bulk submission)?

Educators may submit student poems in bulk, such as an entire class or after school program. If you are a teacher wanting to submit student poems in bulk, please visit ilhumanities.secure-platform.com/site/page/bulk for instructions.

Can I submit a poem in another language?

At this time, we can only accept and effectively judge poems written in English.

Can I use AI to help me write?

All entries must be the original work of the young person submitting the poem, so AI cannot be used. The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards has a no-tolerance policy for plagiarism and AI generated writing (ChatGPT or any other AI programs).

Can I submit a joint or co-written poem?

Poems must be written by only one author (sorry, we do not accept joint or co-written poems for this competition).

Is there a paper submission form?

We recognize that not all students in Illinois have access to computers or the internet, so paper submission forms are available upon request. To request a paper submission form, please email poetry@ilhumanities.org. Please do not request or send a paper submission if your student has regular access to the internet.

Are scanned copies of poems acceptable rather than typed copies?

Yes! Our younger poets often submit hand-drawn pictures with their poems, and we love to see them. Scans are always welcome. We prefer that all poems be submitted on white paper in a standard font with black text.

Do you accept erasure poems or spoken word?

We, unfortunately, do not accept erasure poems or any other poetry based on the words of other writers, and we are very strict about plagiarism. We accept spoken word-oriented poems, but the poem must be able to live comfortably on the page so that it can be read and evaluated by our judges.

Is it okay if poems include profanity?

On principle, we do not censor student work for this competition. We ask that you exercise judgment in submitting poems that include profanity or potentially triggering content, as most of our student audience is children below the age of 14. However, we value our youth poets’ voices and that sometimes may include controversial vocabulary choices.

What’s the judging process for student work?

All poems are judged anonymously. Once the submission deadline has been reached, Illinois Humanities sends the entries, without the author's identifying information, to a team of first-round reviewers for an initial screening round. Those reviewers assign a score to each poem, and those scores are averaged to determine the top scorers from each grade. The top 5 poems from each grade are then sent on to a final judging committee composed of representatives from Illinois Humanities, Brooks Permissions, and the Poetry Foundation. The judging committee selects two winners and one honorable mention for each grade.

I have a different question.

Please contact us at poetry@ilhumanities.org. We're happy to help!