To celebrate National Poetry Month and Oklahoma, the Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry conducts an annual Oklahoma Poem Contest, with cash prizes and medals for the winners. Prizes are given out each year at Wonder City Wordfest in Locust Grove.
To enter, write your own creative poem that has something to do with one or more of Oklahoma’s emblems: our state bird, animal, flag, motto, etc.
CASH PRIZES totaling $800
Contest Guidelines
- All Oklahoma residents are eligible to enter.
- Poems will be judged in 4 categories:K-5th, 6th-8th, 9th-12th, and Adult
- Cash awards will be given in each category. Medals will be given for runners-up.
- Poems must be 10-24 lines long, no shorter and no longer.
- Poems can be rhymed or unrhymed.
- One poem per person.
- Previous winning poems cannot be submitted again.
- A signed Entry Form or online form must be filled out and turned in with the poem.
Contest Evaluation Criteria:
Poems will be judged based on these criteria: imagery, creativity, language, and theme
To Submit: DEADLINE: April 3, 2021
Mail your poem with THIS ENTRY FORM.
OR
Submit your poem through the online form below.
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry PO Box 1243 Locust Grove OK 74352
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry
2020 Oklahoma Poem Contest Winning Poets
Adult
1st, Aunika Anderson, Spiro
2nd, Jacquelyn Magrady, Tulsa
3rd, Zachary Wilhite, Claremore
9th-12th Grade
1st, Kaylee Bowman, Grove
2nd, Justin Herlan, Bluejacket
3rd, Harley Lee, Bluejacket
5th-8th Grade
1st, Aurora Parks, Pryor
2nd, Ashlie Nguyen, Yukon
3rd, Zack Strong, Yukon
K-4th Grade
1st, Jediah Harrison, Grove
2nd, MeKenzie Smith, Yukon
3rd, Silas Jackson, Grove
Oklahoma Poem Contest 2020: Winning Poems
2019 Oklahoma Poem Contest Winners
Adult
1st, Hannah Ewton, Claremore
2nd, Darron Dunbar, Oklahoma City
3rd, Mary McCloskey, Oklahoma City
9th-12th
1st, Palmer Strubhar, Piedmont
5th-8th
1st, Lahna Erwin
2nd, Ivy Snyder
3rd, Ashley Smith
K-4th
1st, Zack Strong, Yukon
2nd Alexander Spruill, El Reno & Kaylee Porter, Yukon
3rd, Leslie Bernal, Tulsa
CLICK HERE to see photos by Zack Strong’s grandfather Lonnie Rickey at Wonder City Wordfest
2019 OK Winning Poems

2018 Oklahoma Poem Contest Winners
Photographs of the winners who were at the ceremony can be found HERE.
Category: K-5th Grade
1st
Aurora Parks, Roosevelt Elementary, Pryor
2nd
Amelia Hanlan, Independence Elementary, Yukon
3rd (tie)
Madison Mennecke, LGUE, Locust Grove
Parker Hensley, Independence Elementary, Yukon
Category: 6th-8th Grade
1st
Erin Bendabout, LGMS, Locust Grove
2nd
Jerah Bighorse, LGMS, Locust Grove
3rd (tie)
Miranda Blossom, LGMS, Locust Grove
Mya Phillips, LGMS, Locust Grove
Category: 9th-12th Grade
1st
Jasmine Alverado, Emerson South, Oklahoma City
2nd
Sierra Murphy, LGHS, Locust Grove
3rd
Audra Cunningham, LGHS, Locust Grove
Category: Adult
1st
Casey Mclerran, Sapulpa
2nd
Debra Martin, Edmond
3rd
Hannah Eaton, Claremore
You can read all of the winning poems in a pdf by clicking HERE.
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