WESTMINSTER ART FESTIVAL
Poetry 2026
Poets are invited to submit works on the theme
"WHOSE BACKYARD?"
Poetry submissions are limited to one or two 8 ½ x 11 page
(Please read Entry Guidelines carefully for more information.)
Limit of two poems per poet for 2025.
Entry fee: $15 for one poem; $25 for two.
Poems accepted for inclusion in the festival will be presented in book form, accompanied by images of many of the visual art entries.
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Winning poems will be read at the awards presentation.
We will also offer an opportunity for other participating poets
to read their work.
Poetry books from 2025 and previous years
are available at the church for a small donation.
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Please read guidelines carefully, as some details have changed.
FIRST PRIZE $300
SECOND PRIZE $200
THIRD PRIZE $100
Our 2026 Poetry Juror
is
Alison Swan
Born in Detroit, Alison Swan is a poet and writer who has always been compelled by Earth, our home planet, as a place. Currently based in Ann Arbor, she writes that both the Huron and Kalamazoo River watershed are dear to her.She has been active in efforts to protect and preserve the Saugatuck Dunes on the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan since 2001. She is a Mesa Refuge writer’s residency fellow and a Petoskey Prize for Grassroots Environmental Leadership co-winner. Her poems and environmental writing have also appeared in two chapbooks and in many anthologies and journals. She taught writing and literature in Western Michigan University’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
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​Alison Swan’s fifth book, A Fine Canopy, released by Wayne State University Press in 2020, was short-listed for an IPPY Poetry Medal by Independent Publisher, named one of the eleven most anticipated poetry releases of fall 2020 by LitHub, and highly recommended by Orion magazine. Cornerstone Press will publish her new book of poems in the coming year. Her first book, Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes is a Michigan Notable Book.
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​We are delighted to welcome Alison as Poetry Juror for the 2026 Westminster Art Festival!