Wall
39 posts — share updates and reply to club members.
Sign in to join the conversation.
Delete this post?
Are you sure you want to delete this post? This cannot be undone.
39 posts — share updates and reply to club members.
Sign in to join the conversation.
Are you sure you want to delete this post? This cannot be undone.
125,022 Literary Works • 672,755 Reviews
If you were around YWS in 2024, chances are you might have seen an advertisement for the 'Free Verse Club'. Well, I am here to tell you that we are bringing it back this year and totally changing how it runs!
This year, we are going to do 4 contests, which last three months each. Each contest will not have a specific theme, but instead, it will focus on where you are in your 'season' of life. Below are the contest dates:
Contest 1: January 14th-March 31st
Contest 2: April 1st- June 30th
Contest 3: July 1st- September 30th
Contest 4: October 1st- December 31st
During the time of a contest, there will be a forum in the Free Verse Club open for submissions. Anyone is welcome to submit! There is no limit on how many poems you can submit. So you could submit one, or you could submit way more!
Take a look at the spoiler below to see what is allowed and not allowed.
Spoiler
-Submit as many poems as you like
-Submit links to poems you have published on YWS during the contest dates
-Submit links to forums
-Submit links to external sites, as long as you are following the YWS Rules and practicing Internet Safety
-Collab poems
-Visual or spoken word poems
-Any poems that are written with AI will not be judged. Repeatedly breaking this rule can lead to being banned from the contest.
-Plagiarism
-Spam
-Topics that break the YWS rules
-Judges can submit poems but they will not judge their own work
-All judging is anonymous
-All participants will get a badge for every contest they participate in. Each winner will get a special winner badge!
From today until March 31st, you can submit as many free verse poems as you want about any topic that you feel passionate to write about. You can submit all of your poems in the Contest Thread.
Happy writing and please reach out with any questions!
Contest 1: Beginning of January (when I post it this week)-March 31st
Contest 2: April 1st- June 30th
Contest 3: July 1st- September 30th
Contest 4: October 1st- December 31st
This way, instead of having a theme, each quarterly contest will focus on a different time of year or season, so you can focus on your own growth and progression throughout the year. We will allow for more submissions from each person too and have way less rules. I am open to any suggestions or ideas or volunteers to help out, moving forward. PM me with anything you want to share!
Happy 2025 and I cannot wait to write some poetry with all of you this year!
-EllieMae
Hey everyone! It is time to announce the winners of the August Free Verse competition. Sorry for any delay. The results have been released a little later this month because of RevMo and other YWS site events. Let's jump right into the winners!
First place goes to the amazing @AdagioK with an unnamed poem! Thank you for your incredible poem. The repetition and depth was fantastic!
Second place goes to @fatherfig with 'but my blood is not golden'! I love how well you used the theme. Your poem was so vivid and gorgeous
Third place goes to @DavieB with 'The Self Less Angel'! Phenomenal work!! I loved how much description you had and it felt like yo were really telling us a story.
If you would like to join as a judge for September, please PM @EllieMae for details! We would love to have you join our judging team!
Do you want to receive quality, in-depth reviews on your poetry? In the midst of RevMo, the mod team is hosting a special poetry based reviewing event for committed poets, wanting to write and receive in-depth and quality reviews.
What is the event?
For this event, you will submit one of your poems to be reviewed. This can be a work you have published on YWS previously, or a new one that you publish for this event. You will be assigned to leave two quality and in depth reviews on two other poems that have been submitted for the event. In return, you will also receive two in-depth reviews on your poem, from other participants.
What exactly is an in depth and quality review?
This is a review that is written after closely reading the poem, analyzing the content the best you can, and should include impressions, critiques, compliments, quotes, and follow an organized structure. It should be long enough to include and cover all of these points. It is not a review that is written in a few minutes, rather it is something that takes time and effort, basically- the best review you can write! Reviews written with AI are considered Review Spam and are not allowed.
You will receive your asssigned poems to review on September 15th. Your two reviews must be submitted by September 27th.
How do I sign up?
Sign ups will be open from September 1st to 14th and there is a limit of 12 spots available. To sign up, please send a security deposit of 1000 points to PoetryBot. Once you complete your two reviews for the event, you will get all of these points returned to you, if you don't complete your reviews, you will not receive the points back. Also, by September 12th, please PM @EllieMae with a link to the poem that you would like to have reviewed. It must be published on YWS.
If you have any questions, please reply to this post, or PM. one of the event organizers, @EllieMae, @alliyah, or @OrabellaAvenue.
Where do rainbows end?
I hope that you can find inspiration in this image and questions. All poems can be submitted here! Remember, you can submit up to five poems, you can collab with other writers, and you can submit poems in any text or visual/audio format! This contest will be open from August 30th until September 21st.
Do you want to be a judge? Do you have an idea for next months prompt? Do you have an idea for how we can improve the club? We would love to have your help! Please PM @EllieMae. Judges can still submit poems
Happy September, happy writing, and happy weekend!! Winners from the August contest will be announced in the next week.
Moving forward, would you prefer 1) we continue to have monthly prompts be phrases or questions or text quotes, 2) prompts be visuals, such as images or videos or songs, or 3) prompts be a combination of both text and visuals?
Just wondering if visual prompts would intrigue anyone, or if you would prefer to keep them text based. We could always try it and see how it goes! But I want to hear what you guys want most.
This months prompt will be...
This is a line from The Merchant of Venice, a play by William Shakespeare. It is from Act 2 Scene 7 (feel free to read more of the actual scene, it is lovely!). This quote talks about how everything beautiful on the surface may not be as lovely on the inside. But where can we find true gold? And how can we know it is true? Well, that's for you to ponder and write about this month
I would also like to let you know that I am working on a revised and more detailed judging rubric that will be implemented this month and for all future competitions moving forward. This rubric will include more detailed judging criteria and explanations to ensure that all judges are united in their critiques. If you would like to be a judge this month, please contact @EllieMae, as well, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments. Judges can still submit poems to the contest.
First of all, a big thank you to @WeepingWisteria, @KateHardy, @OrabellaAvenue, and @redcarnation who were incredible judges this month. And thank you to @ChrysanthemumCentury for helping me run things this month while I travelled *round of applause*
And thank YOU to everyone who submitted! Let's jump right into the results!
Third place goes to...
Spoiler
Second place goes to...
Spoiler
First place goes to...
Spoiler
And congrats to our two runners up...
Spoiler
Some quotable quotes from this month:
Fantastic work to everyone who participated! If you want to be a judge or help run the contest, please contact @EllieMae!! I look forward to reading your wonderful poems this coming month
IT'S TIME TO ANNOUNCE THE JULY FV PROMPT!
Hello poets and friends alike! It is the time of the month where we announce the Free Verse prompt! As always, you can submit up to 5 poems to a competition, in the submission thread!
If you are interested in judging for this round of Free Verse, please reach out to @EllieMae! Us judges always enjoy more company, and it's great to help out. You can still post poems as a judge too!
This contest is open from July 1st through 21st.
Now without further ado, our July prompt is...
Have fun!