Announcing the 2025-2026 Diann Blakely Visiting Poet: Karla Kelsey

National Poetry Competition

The Diann Blakely Poetry Competition is held annually by the Creative Writing Program at the University of Georgia. The competition is judged by that year's Diann Blakely Visiting Poet.

The winner of the contest will receive $500 and their work will be archived on this website.

Competition Rules:

Poem submissions must be written in English.
No simultaneously submitted work.
An entry is one poem, 50 lines or fewer, and each author may only submit once in a given year.
Do not submit work previously published in any form, as it will not be considered.
Entries will be read blind. There should be no identifying information in the poem or in the file name.

Please note that students, faculty, staff, and administrators currently affiliated with the University of Georgia are ineligible for the Diann Blakely National Poetry Competition. Intimate friends, relatives, colleagues, and former or current students of a judge are also ineligible to enter. Previous winners of our contest should wait three years before entering again.

Any entry that does not follow these directions will be disqualified.

The 2025-2026 Poetry Competition will be judged by Diann Blakely Visiting Poet Karla Kelsey who will be joining us for a series of events between November 11-12, 2025 as part of the UGA Spotlight on the Arts.

Submissions will open Spring 2026. Please subscribe for updates on the competition.

In exchange for the opportunity to submit a poem for consideration in the Diann Blakely National Poetry Competition, the author (“Entrant”) hereby grants the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, by and on behalf of the University of Georgia (“University”) a non-exclusive right and license to use the poem submitted (the “Submission”), for judging and for permanent storage with the University of Georgia English Department (collectively, the “Permitted Uses”), in all platforms and in all media now known or hereafter devised. Permitted Uses shall also include the right to present the Submission on the English Department’s website, and in the advertising and promotion of the Diann Blakely National Poetry Competition. The University is under no obligation to use the Submission for any of the Permitted Uses. Nothing herein shall limit the University’s rights to use the poem as a member of the general public.

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