• Carl Sandburg Home Spring

    Carl Sandburg Home

    National Historic Site North Carolina

Carl Sandburg Student Poetry Contest

poetry contest submissions

NPS Photo

Poetry submissions on display during celebration.

The contest, which encourages young students to write, has grown to over 200 submissions. In January of each year educators are invited to submit original poems written by their students. Students in grades 3-12 are guided only by an annual theme. Submissions can be written in any style. Poems are judged within grade categories, 3-5th, 6-8th and 11-12th. Winning poets are then invited to share their work at a celebration in their honor.


2012 Poetry Contest - "Social Activism"
Carl Sandburg was known as the "poet of the people" because he expressed the social struggles of all Americans. He became the voice for those that had none: child laborers, factory workers, soldiers, immigrants and workers of all races. You may find the wining 2012 poems here.

 
Student Poets Recognized at the 2011 Carl Sandburg Poetry Contest Reception

NPS Photo

Student Poets Recognized at the 2011 Carl Sandburg Poetry Contest Reception along with the Park’s Writer-in-Resident, Jane Sadusky (right), and the park's Education Program Coordinator Ginger Cox (left).

2011 Student Poetry Contest
The theme for 2011 was "places". You may find the winning poems here.

Did You Know?

black and white sketch of binoculars; art by Will Irvine and Mark Haines

These binoculars were used quite a lot by both Mrs. Sandburg and her daughter Margaret. They loved watching birds from inside their home or while walking in the woods or through the pastures. Margaret identified over 100 species of birds on the property during her lifetime at Connemara.