Contests

THE MAINE POETS SOCIETY PRIZE POEM CONTESTS 2023

The Maine Poets Society is proud to present our sixth annual $100 prize poem contest. This
year we are again also offering a $50 prize to Maine poets whose poetry has not been
previously published. Publication in a newsletter or an online workshop does not count for
this purpose.

The contests are open to all Maine residents, including seasonal, except for Maine Poets
Society board members. If your entry will be postmarked out of state, please enclose a
letter verifying your address when resident in Maine.  Entries must be postmarked
between January 15 th and the deadline of March 30 th , 2023.

There is a $5 entry fee for the $100 prize poem contest, and a $2.50 entry fee for the $50
contest for previously unpublished poets. You may enter up to 4 poems, but you must cover
each poem with an entry fee. You may not enter a poem that has been previously published.

Topic and form are left open, but there is a 50-line limit. Entries exceeding this will be
disqualified.

Our distinguished judge for the $100 prize poem contest in 2023 will be Wesley McNair,
Maine Poet Laureate from 2011-2016 and Emeritus Professor at the University of Maine,
Farmington. He has received fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Guggenheim
Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the
Arts, and United States Artists. Among his other honors are the Robert Frost Prize, the
Theodore Roethke Prize, the Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Book, the Sarah Josepha
Hale Medal for “distinguished contribution to the world of letters.”
Our prizes will be presented at the 2023 Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance awards
evening. The shortlists will be announced beforehand by email and on the MPS Facebook
page.

Please send two copies of your poem, one of them identified with your name, mailing
address, email address and telephone number and which contest you are entering, and one
with no additional information, to MPS Vice-President Gus Peterson, at 12 Middle Street,
Randolph, ME 04346. Mark your envelope CONTEST.

Enclose a check payable to Maine Poets Society, with ‘Contest entry’ on the memo line.
Entries will not be returned, so please retain a copy.

Reading makes you cool. We mean warm!

START: 12/1/20
FINALE: 3/20/21

Read your way through the winter and earn chances to win prizes!

Online Beanstack Challenge
Kids and your grown-ups: sign up to accomplish Reading Challenges, earn Activity Badges, and Write Reviews, to earn tickets for raffle prizes. Register at https://bbhlibrary.beanstack.org/.

We’ll be cheering you on all winter with High-5 Prize Drawings on January 5, February 5, and March 5. With tickets you earn, you’ll have a chance to enter to win a Kindle Fire, plus a mug and a tin of cocoa goodness to keep you warm while you read on.

On March 20, we’ll announce two grand prize winners. Prize hint: Do you know just how comfy a bean bag chair is?

Need help getting started with Beanstack? Contact Bethany at 207-633-3112 or via email at tech@bhmlnext100.org.

Paper Challenge

Grown-ups and paper-lovers we’ve got a Winter Reading Challenge for you, too! Try out new book genres, and experience new authors using our guided challenge checklist. For each category read, you’ll earn a raffle ticket you can use towards High 5 prizes, or the grand prize.

High 5 drawings will be for gift cards from local businesses. Grand prize? A 6-month subscription to the Great Courses Online! Slightly ironic, yes…we’ll walk you through how to access it if you win and consider yourself “technologically challenged.”

Starting December 1, ask for a Paper Challenge when you pick up Curbside or Windowside.

Winners of prizes have been contacted!

Congratulations!

Thanks everyone for another great summer reading season!

Welcome to Summer Reading 2020, Social Distance Edition!

This year, thanks to the Maine State Library, we have a fun and remote way to do summer reading so you can still read to win awesome summer reading prizes!

Sign up for BHML’s summer reading challenge here: bbhlibrary.beanstack.org.

The more you read, the more chances you have to win! Enter the summer reading challenge that’s right for you: Kids, Teen, or Adult!

Good Luck!

Summer Reading 2020 Q & A

What do I need to sign up?

Only your name, a username, and a password are required. When you write book reviews, they’ll show up under your username, so think about whether you want it to be identifiable or not.

If you want to win a prize, be sure to provide an email address or phone number – that’s the only way for us to contact you!

Do I need a library card?

No. You do need to be a resident of our service region (Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb, and Southport) to win a prize, and we sure recommend you have a card, but it’s not required.

How do I unlock badges?

Every hour of reading you log via the website or app will unlock a new badge. Logging is simple: just click on the “Log Reading and Activities” button in the upper left corner of the Summer Reading Challenge website, select the day that you read, and enter the number of minutes or hours you spent reading. You can choose to enter the title and author of your book, but you don’t have to.

Every time you complete another hour of reading, you’ll unlock another badge. You’ll also unlock badges for submitting written or picture book reviews, or for completing activities.

How do I get tickets?

Tickets are awarded automatically when you unlock badges. You’ll get one ticket with the One Hour of Reading badge; two tickets with the Two Hours of Reading badge; and so forth. Tickets are also earned with the Book Review and Activity badges.

How do I choose where my tickets go?

Click on the “Ticket Drawings” tab. You’ll see how many tickets you have, and you’ll be able to choose how many tickets to put in each drawing.

How will I know if I won a prize?

We’ll call or email you if you’ve won a prize! But remember to provide some kind of contact information when you register!