Epistolary
Write a poem in letter form.
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Apr 13, 2023
Submissions closed
Apr 29, 2023 3:59 AM CUT
Results
May 18, 2023
Prizes
- Grand Prize:
- $1,000
- Second Place:
- $250
- 10 Runners-Up:
- $25
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Apr 13, 2023
Submissions closed
Apr 29, 2023 3:59 AM CUT
Results
May 18, 2023
About this challenge
The Prompt
Write a poem in letter form. Begin with a greeting (e.g. Dear X,) and end with a closing signature (e.g. Sincerely, X).
An epistolary poem is a type of poetry written in the form of a personal letter. It is addressed to a specific person, to an imagined reader, to a general audience, or even a thing. In an epistolary poem, the poet often uses the first-person point of view to create a sense of intimacy and directness.
Epistolary poems can be written on a variety of topics, such as love, friendship, politics, and social issues. For this challenge, you get to decide the topic, who the letter is addressed to, and signed by. You can learn more about epistolary poems here.
This challenge was inspired by Korina Camel's contribution to Shape the Future of Vocal Challenges. Thank you, Korina!
In order for your submission to qualify, it must be:
*There is no minimum word count.*
The Prizes
- Grand Prize: $1,000
- Second Place: $250
- 10 Runners-Up: $25
How to enter
For your poem to be eligible, it should be in letter form, under 2,000 words, submitted to the Poets Community, and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Poems published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until April 28, 2023, at 11:59 PM ET will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Epistolary Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or runners-up prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these countries will not be eligible to win.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
Challenge resources
In Eclipse Challenge Winners
Creator Dane BH is one of our Vocal stalwarts. We’re so grateful to all of your in our Vocal community, and so thrilled by your achievements. This is the third time Dane has won one of our challenges, and she appears too on our Vocal podcast, Write Here, Write Now — take a listen if you haven’t already. But she’s not our winner because we know her: the subtlety and simplicity of we watched the world go dark. together. is what made it our winner of the In Eclipse challenge, with the grace and ease of its lines and observation. As it happens it also expresses the community spirit that means so much to us.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished 4 days ago in ResourcesWhispering Woods Challenge Winners
Congratulations to Morgan Christy Rickards for their winning Whispering Woods story, Guardian at the Gate. Morgan has been a Vocal creator since February 2021, and this is their first time placing in Challenge — well done, starting with a win! Guardian at the Gate draws evocatively from Welsh tales of the Cantre'r Gwaelod, a lost sunken kingdom between the forest and the sea. Heledd’s dangerous adventure pulls her towards the water but her spirit is anchored in the woods: Morgan’s writing is atmospheric and exciting.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished about a month ago in ResourcesSnacktime Sonata Challenge Winners
Well, your Snacktime Sonatas made us hungry, and that’s about the highest compliment we have. Food — taste, smell, sensation — is a powerful conduit to the past, to memories pleasurable and painful and sometimes bittersweet, a mixture of comfort and challenge. Congratulations to Penny Fuller for Sativa — it’s a first win for Penny — a hymn to the “secret, unbounded/freedoms” of fresh peas in the pod. The narrative voice of the poem doesn’t really want to be outside, but finds joy in the green things of the earth; this is a lovely work of resilience.
Vocal Curation TeamPublished about a month ago in Resources