To celebrate National Poetry Month 2023, we're hosting a poetry contest, judged by the amazing Isabella Ramírez!

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Prizes & Goodies:

One poem will be selected for first-place and be awarded $250 and publication in Issue #4 of the magazine. The winning poet will also be featured in a blog interview.

The second-place poem will be awarded $100. The third-place poem will be awarded $50. Both the second- and third-place poems will be published in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

Entry Fee: None.

All poems submitted to the contest will also be considered for publication in an upcoming issue.

Who's Eligible: Any teen between the ages of 13-19 years old living on Planet Earth. Poems must be in English (translations enthusiastically welcome) and have not been previously published (in a magazine, newspaper, or book). Poems that have appeared on social media are acceptable.

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How to Submit to Contest:

1. Send 2-3 Poems in a single PDF Word-friendly attachment to underthemadnessmagazine.com

2. Make sure your name DOES NOT APPEAR inside the attachment. This contest will be judged blindly (which means poets' names will be removed before the judge encounters the poems).

3. In the subject line of your email, put NATIONAL POETRY MONTH CONTEST

4. In the body of your email, list the title of the poem or poems you're sending. Tell us your age and where you reside. Note: submissions lacking information on the author's age and place of residency will be automatically disqualified.

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Contest Opens: Midnight, EST, on March 15, 2023, and will continue until midnight, EST, on April 30, 2023. Winners will be notified on May 25 and results will be shared on Instagram & Twitter.

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About the Judge:

Isabella Ramírez is a queer, Latinx poet and spoken word artist from South Florida. She is the 2022 National Youth Poet Laureate South Regional Ambassador, a program of Urban Word NYC, and the Jason Taylor Foundation’s 2021 South Florida Youth Poet Laureate. A former National Student Poet of the Southeast (2020) and Louder Than A Bomb Florida Individual Grand Champion (2021), her work has been recognized nationally by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and the Young Arts Foundation. She has collaborated on projects for the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame, NHL Florida Panthers, PBS’ television series Poetry in America, the Florida Department of State, and the School District of Palm Beach County, among others. Ramirez has performed at venues such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall, and the Embassy of Ireland, and her work has been featured in Mass Poetry’s “The Hard Work of Hope,” The Best Teen Writing of 2020 (Scholastic Inc.), NPR, WNYC, Button Poetry, and more.

Currently, she studies at Columbia University in New York City and serves as the University News Editor and DEI Committee member for the undergraduate student newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator. Through her poetry, she hopes to create a platform for self-reflection, social justice, and challenging the status quo.

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