For more information about the South Dakota State Poetry Society (SDSPS) and our other publications and contests, please visit our website at sdpoetry.org.
Deadline: February 1, 2026
Please note: We do not accept previously published work. We do accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately if your work is accepted somewhere else.
Send one document with up to five poems. Use your contact information, including phone number and email address, as the header for each page. Please also add a brief bio (50 words or less) in the space for Cover Letter, highlighting any connection you have to South Dakota.
We welcome poetry from all poets. There is a submission fee of $3.00 for non-SDSPS members. We are unable to offer a complimentary copy to non-members, but copies are available for sale on our website. SDSPS members receive a copy as a benefit of membership.
For information on how to join SDSPS, please visit sdpoetry.org.
Deadline: February 1, 2026
Please note: We do not accept previously published work. We do accept simultaneous submissions but ask that you inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
Send one document with up to five poems, each on its own page. Use your contact information, including phone number and email address, as the header for each page. Please also add a brief bio in the Cover Letter space (50 words or less) highlighting your primary connection to South Dakota.
We welcome work from all poets. If you are not a member of SDSPS, please use the form that says "open call/non-SDSPS members only." Members receive a copy of Pasque Petals as one of their membership benefits.
What to submit: Students may submit up to three of their best poems that somehow relate to the theme "growing up in South Dakota." We don't mean for this to be too restrictive, so write about places: most beautiful, peaceful, eeriest, desolate, strangest, a sanctuary. Write about mud, sand, hail, hay, football field bleachers, FFA/4-H/science fair projects. Write about what you are thinking and feeling. Write a hermit crab poem--borrow a form--if your day had a nutritional label, what would it say? (What are the ingredients of your typical day?) Write a recipe for how to be a successful SD student, athlete, son/daughter) or for how to create a disaster. We also want some relation to life here in particular--what are the main features of your most familiar landscape/locale--it might even be the art room at your school, or the area around your backdoor. Or, finish this thought: "When I've been away, I know I'm home when...." Write a poem about a challenge you face that someone living in New York or Hawaii would not be likely to face. Write a poem entitled: "OOPS!" or "WOW!" or "Behind the 3rd rock on the left." In other words, surprise us! Make your poems your own. Remember, these poems do not need be autobiographical.
Who can submit: Middle school and high school students in South Dakota are eligible.
Judging: Judging will be conducted by members of the South Dakota State Poetry Society board.
Awards: There are two categories: Middle School and High School. The categories will be judged separately. Prizes in each category are $75 for first place, $50 for second, and $25 for third. Winning students will receive a check in the mail. Winning poems will be published to our blog and will be considered for the next year's issues of Pasque Petals.
How to submit: Submission is free. Students can either establish a Submittable account and submit through the link below, or they can contact the chairperson through the SDSPS email address for other options (sdsps.membership@gmail.com). In either case, students must include an adult's (parent, teacher, caregiver) statement and signature that the work is the student's original work and that if selected, the work can be published to our website. This is best done with a .pdf sent to the email address.
Other submission details: Students must include name, school, and grade on each page of poetry submitted. In the cover letter on Submittable, students must include the name and physical address of their local newspaper.
Deadline to submit: Submissions are open January 1 to March 1 each year. (If mailing in your submission, the entry should be postmarked by the deadline.)
The South Dakota State Poetry Society selects TWO poets for its Poet of Merit awards each year in which a new poet laureate is not named - one award for a living poet and one posthumous award.
Nominees must have been either born in South Dakota or have been a resident for five or more years. Ideally, if the nominee has moved out of state, he or she shall have maintained South Dakota ties.
The South Dakota Poet of Merit Award is a lifetime honor and may be granted regardless of whether or not the poet has served or may in the future serve as a South Dakota Poet Laureate.
Living South Dakota Poet of Merit Award winners will be invited to add copies of their work to the SDSPS Archives at SDSU’s Briggs Library. Works of South Dakota Poet of Merit winners in the Posthumous category may be collected by the committee and submitted to the SDSPS Archives at SDSU’s Brigg’s Library.
Current SDSPS Members are eligible to submit nominations via Submittable for the Poet of Merit Award. (If you are not a current member, but wish to join or renew, please do so via our website here: https://sdpoetry.org/shop/)
To nominate a Poet of Merit in either or both categories (living or posthumous), SDSPS members should submit the following by April 1:
a) a cover letter stating why the poet deserves the honor; b) a sample of the poet’s work, not to exceed 15 pages or 10 minutes of recorded audio and/or video. (If poems are published, indicate where and when.); and c) a bio of the poet, not to exceed three typed pages. (Note: At their discretion, the committee may choose to further read or research a poet's writing and accomplishments in addition to considering the submitted nomination materials.)