PoeFest is celebrating its 15th year commemorating the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and you can be a part of it all at multiple locations throughout Phoenix, Arizona this October. PoeFest has been a labor of love for a decade. When PoeFest first opened, it did so to just six audience members. With a packed audience on the third night, they knew they had something special. The fest includes mainstage productions of Poe’s short stories every weekend during the month of October with Poe’s stories rotating nightly. PoeFest usually culminates on Halloween night with ‘The Raven’ at Rosson House Museum. But there’s something extra special about PoeFest that makes Bookmans honored to be a sponsor!

Here are the updated rules for 2023:

STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION

Short Story Contest

1. All Arizona students in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades for the 2023-2024 school year are eligible.
2. Home-schooled students are eligible.
3. Student authors must be residents of the State of Arizona.
4. The submission deadline is Midnight on October 29, 2023.
5. All short story submissions must be between 1,000 and 7,500 words.
6. The themes for short stories must stick to the genres of horror and/or mystery.
7. Stories must be original.
8. Authors retain all copyrights.
9. Revised previous submissions accepted.
10. Submissions can be made in electronic form (contest@poefest.org.) Word document or PDF formats only, please.

11. All submissions must include the email and phone number of a parent or guardian. All authors must have the permission of a parent or guardian to participate.

12. All submissions must include the author’s name, birthdate, school, and grade for the 2023-2024 school year. (Home-schooled students are welcome.)

13. One winner will be declared and notified via email and/or phone on October 31st, 2023. Public Notifications on social media pages will be posted after contact with winners. Initials of winners will be posted and the city they are from.

14. All submissions will be adjudicated by a panel of judges.
15. Prize packages will be provided by Bookman’s Entertainment Exchange.

STUDENT WRITING COMPETITION

Poetry Contest

1. All Arizona students in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades for the 2023-2024 school year are eligible.
2. Student authors must be residents of the State of Arizona.
3. Home-schooled students are eligible.
4. The submission deadline is Midnight October 29th, 2023.
5. All poetry submissions must be no more than 422 lines.
6. Themes for poems must stick to the genres of love, horror, and/or death.
7. Poems must be original.
8. Poets retain all copyrights.
9. Revised previous submissions accepted.
10. Submissions can be made in electronic form (contest@poefest.org.) Word document or PDF file formats only, please.

11. All submissions must include the email and phone number of a parent or guardian. All authors must have the permission of a parent or guardian to participate.

12. All submissions must include the poet’s name, birthdate, school, and grade for the 2023-2024 school year.

13. One winner will be declared and notified via email and/or phone on October 31st, 2023. Public Notifications on social media pages will be posted after contact with winners. Initials of winners will be posted and the city they are from.
14. All submissions will be adjudicated by a panel of judges
15. Prize packages will be provided by Bookman’s Entertainment Exchange.

We can’t wait to see all of the submissions! If you have any questions, please contact MesaEvents@Bookmans.com. Happy writing everyone!