April Madness 2026!
Hello everyone! You guessed it! we are back for another round of April madness!
What is April Madness?
Very good question! April madness is a poetry contest held throughout the month of April. There will be several rounds in which submissions will be due by. Everything will be in a bracket style like This where contestants will be grouped together. You can view last year Here You will submit a poem each round you advance and go against a different user, and the judged "best" poem in several categories wins! And the round for finalists get some fancy badges for your amazing poeting skills.
Signups are closed!
groupings will be announced by April 4th
Competitors
1.herb
2. romanticchemist
3. LadySpark
4. canopy
5. AlexWrites
6.redcarnation
7.LuminescentAnt
8.lalalucky
9.rook
10.Avian
11. niteowl
12.Silver
13. candyhearts
14. spottedpebble
15.Roxanne
16.JazzicusMaximus
17.TheRebel2007
18.Hannah
19.flowersforplath
20. rubbersoul
Judges
alliyah, Mesh, Keystrings, cocteau
If you would like to help judge PM Quillfeather
How judging works
Spoiler
Judging takes place in a google doc accessible only by judges where entries will be listed anonymously. Judges will then give a score for 5 individual categories with points 0-5 pertaining to the category requirements and then will give a total score of those combined numbers. The totals each judge gives will be averaged out to give each entry a score. The highest scoring entries will determine who moves to the next round. - if there are any further questions on this feel free to reach out.
Rules
1. Submissions must be written in April
2. Submissions must be posted in this thread, which can either be a link to it or the poem itself, by the deadlines. If needed we would prefer you submitted a piece which you state you edited after submission then to have a late submission.
3. Poems can not be used more then once for each round. The exception being the final round.
4. No AI written poems are permitted for submission.
5. You may write a poem of any genre
If you have any questions/concerns, feel free to reach out to me or one of our judges.
When Will the rounds be held?
Round One:Parings will be posted April 3rd. Submissions will be due by April 4th 04/04/2026 09:00 PM CDT And the announcement of those advancing to the next round and the new parings will be announced on April 6th
Round Two: Submissions for this round are due by 04/11/2026 09:00 PM CDT And those advancing to the next round will be posted with their new parings on April 13th
Round Three: Submissions for this round are due by 04/18/2024 09:00 PM CDT And the final two contestants will be announced on April 20
Round Four: This is the final round. Submissions are due by 04/25/2026 09:00 PM CDT and the winner of April madness will be announced on April 30th and badges will be awarded
Prizes
The two finalists will each receive a personalized badge commemorating their achievement. They will also get their names in the The YWS Big Book of Records. As well as bragging rights!
We are very excited to see your poems! Let the poeting begin!
