2026 competition

ELIGIBILITY & PARTICIPATION

  • Eligibility

    • Open to students in grades 7 to 12

    • Entrants must be enrolled in one of the participating schools: University of Toronto Schools (UTS), Upper Canada College (UCC), The York School (TYS), or Havergal College (HC)

    • Writers may be at any stage of development

  • Participation Philosophy

    • Poiesis does not assume prior publication, awards or formal training. Students are encouraged to submit work that reflects attention, honesty and curiosity, rather than polish or technical mastery for its own sake.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Number of poems: One piece per entrant

Length: Minimum 100 words; maximum 300 words

Forms accepted: All poetic forms, including free verse, formal, prose and hybrid

  • Formatting Requirements

    • Clear and legible Sans-Serif font

    • Spacing appropriate to the piece

    • Submissions must be sent in as a PDF

    • File name must include the poem title only

    • The author’s name, school or identifying information must not appear anywhere on the document

  • School Vetting and Submission Caps

    • All submissions must be vetted in-house by the participating school

    • Each school may submit a maximum of five (5) student submissions total

  • Originality 

    • All work must be the original creation of the entrant. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools of any kind (including but not limited to the GPT Series, Gemini, Claude, Llama, Mistral, Microsoft Copilot, Grok or similar tools) is strictly prohibited. Any breach of originality will result in immediate disqualification.


THEMES AND PROMPTS

  • A single theme or prompt will be provided for the month of April. The theme or prompt is intended to serve as a starting point rather than a constraint.

  • The theme or prompt is meant to:

    • Spark curiosity

    • Invite reflection

    • Encourage writers to approach ideas from new or unexpected perspectives

  • Literal or obvious responses are not required. Writers are encouraged to follow where their words lead them.

JUDGING CRITERIA

  • Submissions will be considered within two judging categories, to be released at the same time as the theme/prompt. Each category will reflect a distinct approach to poetic engagement.

  • Judges will consider:

Engagement with Language

  • Attention to sound, rhythm and imagery

  • Care in word choice and line format

Authenticity and Voice

  • Distinctiveness of tone or perspective

  • Sincerity of engagement with the poem’s subject

Coherence

  • Relationship between form and meaning

  • A clear sense of intention

JUDGING PROCESS

  • All submissions are read anonymously

  • Poems are read multiple times and with care

  • Final decisions are made by consensus among the judging panel

  • Judging Integrity Policy

    • To ensure fairness and maintain the integrity of the blind judging process, judges are not permitted to provide any feedback, guidance or editorial input on student submissions between April 1 and 29. They are also not permitted to view student submissions during this time period outside of the blind judging process.

    • This includes (but is not limited to):

      • Written or verbal feedback on drafts

      • Suggestions for revision or improvement

      • Informal guidance on how to approach the theme or categories

  • All submissions must reflect the independent work of the student during this period.

RECOGNITION

  • Recognition will be awarded within two thematic divisions and includes one Top Prize recipient and one Runner-Up recipient for each division.

  • These poems will be formally acknowledged by the competition and awarded both a monetary prize ($225 for the Top Prize, $150 for the Runner-Up) and a poetry-related prize, including chapbooks, broadsides, and back issues.

  • We would like to thank two of our sponsors, Arc Poetry and Anstruther Press, for their generous support of Poiesis.

TIMELINE

April 1 – Theme/prompt and two judging categories are released

April 15 – Submissions due for internal review with each school’s judge

April 29 – Final winners announced

RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS

  • Writers retain full copyright of their work

  • Poiesis requests non-exclusive permission to share selected work with attribution

  • Submitted work may not be withdrawn after submission

  • Poiesis exists to support writers and not to claim ownership over their work.

ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIONS

  • Poiesis is committed to accessibility, equity and inclusion.

  • The competition welcomes writers of all backgrounds, identities and abilities.

  • Reasonable accommodations will be made where possible to support participation.

ORGANIZING BODY AND CONTACT INFORMATION

Poiesis is managed by the Founder (Rhiya Armogan) and Mr. Carswell alongside designated teacher heads from each of the participating schools.

  • Organizers

    • Rhiya Armogan (University of Toronto Schools, Student)

    • Chris Carswell (University of Toronto Schools, Department Coordinator – Languages)

  • Teacher Heads / Judges

    • C. Carswell (University of Toronto Schools)

    • J. Swetnam (Havergal College)

    • J. Bauld (Upper Canada College)

    • S. Gardner (The York School