Little Thoughts Press and the Revision Raccoon are excited to announce the
1st Annual “From Trash to Treasure” Kidlit Poetry Contest!
Rather than throw out our darlings, what if we remade them? Take a discarded darling and make something new! Send us a lyrical haiku, funny limerick, inspiring quintains, creative free verse, or whatever your imagination dreams up.
What: Take a discarded-but-loved line from one of your kidlit pieces and use it as a starting point for a poem. Be it fiction or nonfiction, funny or a little dark, quirky or inspirational – whatever direction you go, the work should be appropriate for kids 12 and younger. LGTBQT+ and diverse themes are welcome. The first line of your new poem must be a line that you previously cut from a different piece. We're working on the honor system here! Please do not submit a poem that doesn't include a previously discarded line.
Who: Agented, pre-agented, published, pre-published, kids of all ages— any and all kidlit creatives are welcome to enter!
When: The contest submission period is from August 1st - 4th. A winner and two honorable mentions will be announced here, on the Little Thoughts Press blog, and on Twitter @ltpmag on Friday, August 11th! Selected poems will be featured on the blog and winners will receive a free copy of their choice of one of our past issues. Winning entries will be selected by Little Thoughts Press editors, Claire and Carrie.
How to enter: Post your entry as a comment on this post anytime between midnight (EDT) on August 1st and 11:59 pm (EDT) on August 4th. Entries posted outside of this window will not be considered.
Details: There is no word limit, BUT there is a maximum length of five lines per piece. 1 entry per kidlit creator. Feel free to include a sentence or two about the reason this is a “darling” and the inspiration behind the reimagining of it.
Grab your copy of our Revision Raccoon participant badge and help spread the word by sharing #trashtotreasure on your socials! We can't wait to see how you turn your trash into shiny new treasures!