The Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards Enters Its 7th Year

Illinois Humanities—in partnership with Brooks Permissions, the Poetry Foundation, and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts—is thrilled to usher in a new year of the Gwendolyn Brooks Youth Poetry Awards, an annual writing competition celebrating K-12 poets in Illinois. Founded by former Illinois Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gwendolyn Brooks, the awards honor the work of students across the state with gift packages, award certificates, publication in the annual chapbook, and a live ceremony in Chicago at the end of each summer.

We’re beyond grateful for the thoughtful insights and powerful words that our 2022 poets brought to the contest. We were incredibly fortunate to receive over 440 submissions—a record number—that demonstrated over and over again the wealth of wisdom and creativity of our state’s youth poets. Our 2022 award ceremony was likewise a tremendous success, bringing youth poets from across Illinois to the Logan Center in Chicago to celebrate their amazing achievements. It’s with this momentum and excitement that we begin to look toward 2023.

Here’s what’s ahead during our 2023 competition season:

• March – April: Youth Poetry Workshops
• April: National Poetry Month
• May 5: Submissions due
• July: Winners and honorable mentions are notified of their award
• September 9: Awards ceremony in Chicago (in-person and live-streamed)

The 2023 season will be our first with in-person poetry workshops since 2019. These in-person workshops will take place in March and April 2023, to celebrate National Poetry Month, leading up to the May 5 submissions deadline.

Workshop Schedule:

• 5th – 8th Graders: Celebrating Gwendolyn Brooks: A Workshop for Young Poets, 
  March 30, 2023 LEARN MORE AND RSVP
• 9th – 12th Graders: Brooks, Jenkins and Woods: Chicago and Creative Story Telling for Young Writers, 
  April 27, 2023 LEARN MORE AND RSVP

And more to come!

We encourage you to reach out to us at poetry@ilhumanities.org with any questions, for help submitting your poem, and to inquire about hosting a poetry event at your school or afterschool program.

If you’d like to stay up to date with the 2023 competition and the 2022-23 submissions period, we encourage you to visit the Illinois Humanities website at ILHumanities.org/Poetry and sign up for our mailing list. Please also be sure to visit the Poetry Foundation and Logan Center websites for future events and resources for young writers.

You can check out the work of our 2022 winners and honorable mentions in the 2022 chapbook online. You can also find the 2022 winners and honorable mentions’ favorite books listed on the 57th Street Books website.

Thank you to all who have submitted in the past and those who’ll submit this year. We look forward to reading your work and celebrating with you this summer.

THE 7TH ANNUAL GWENDOLYN BROOKS YOUTH POETRY AWARDS ARE NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FROM K-12 STUDENTS THROUGH MAY 5, 2023. LEARN HOW AND SUBMIT YOUR POEM AT ILHUMANITIES.ORG/POETRY.