The James McIntyre free poetry contest wants your best ~ and your worst ~ poems

The James McIntyre poetry contest

This free contest is open to all ages from Junior Kindergarten to Adult. Maximum of three entries per person

Suggested Styles: Rhyming Verse, Free Verse, Limerick, Haiku, Acrostic, Diamnte, Epic, Refrain, and Other

Awards given (at judges' discretion) in all styles for different grade levels and for adults. In addition, the contest bestows five special awards this year:

- Chaucer Cheese Award, creatively penned to be the absolute worst cheese poem, in honour of the renownedly bad poet, James McIntyre

- Best poems commemorating the 100 anniversary of World War I.

- Best poems commemorating the 200 anniversary of the birth of Sir John A Macdonald

- Cheese Poet Laureate’s Award for the best dairy ode

- J.C. Herbert Award for the best long poem about   Ingersoll, past or present

- Bonnie Mott Award for best poems about famous local people

Deadline: All entries must be received by Wednesday, May 13, at 4 p.m. 
at the Town of Ingersoll Offices (upstairs). You can deliver them by hand or mail them to:

James McIntyre wasn't the only poet writing
cheese odes; the citizens of Cheshire, MA,
presented this ode to President Jefferson.
(Click to enlarge.)

James McIntyre Poetry Contest

Ingersoll Town Office

130 Oxford Street, 2nd floor

Ingersoll, ON  N5C 2V5

Or email your entry as an attachment to: poetry@Ingersoll.ca

Winning poems will be published in the Ingersoll Times newspaper.

Winning poets will be honoured at the James McIntyre Poetry Award Ceremony

Brian Henry will be the judge for the Kindergarten and for the Grades 1 through 12 divisions. Brian is a book editor, writer, creative writing instructor and the publisher of Quick Brown Fox, Canada's most popular blog for writers.

Stephanie Gunter will be the judge for the adult division. 

For more information, phone 519-485-0120. Full details and entry forms here.

Note: Zachariah Wells has an article in Arc Poetry Magazine on what makes James McIntyre’s “Ode to a Mammoth Cheese” truly and literally a bad poem here.  

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.