If you are a poet and want the world to know it, then submit your finest work to the Booksville Festival Poetry Contest. As participants share their words with their community, they’ll play a role in a major Hernando literary festival.
All eligible entries will be included in a poetry anthology that will be released at the Booksville Festival, 131 S. Main St. in Brooksville, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. January 25, 2025.
“The Booksville Festival is intended to celebrate the many ways literature benefits our lives and to draw attention to the many authors in Hernando County. While activities and opportunities for artists have grown exponentially the last few years, authors have not had as many opportunities as visual or performance artists,” said Booksville Festival coordinator Natalie Kahler. “My friend and partner in many projects over the years, Lisa Callea, and I have been discussing this festival. We’d initially thought about doing it when she was a Friends of Chinsegut Board member and I was the manager, but we never got it into the work-plan. Since then, I have trademarked the word “Booksville” and thought the festival would perfectly commemorate the GFWC Historic Brooksville Woman’s Club’s 115 anniversary. One of the club’s first initiatives was starting the first library in the county.”
Kahler feels that the Booksville poetry contest and book symbolize and fulfill the festival’s mission. “Though few will have tackled a novel or full book, many people express their thoughts through poetry,” she said. “This book will show off the talents of those writers living among us!”
Kahler, an author and educator, sees the book and contest as a prime motivator for those who wish to express themselves poetically–and creatively. “We want to encourage people to start writing and to see the many different types of poetry,” she said. “When I taught English, I would start the poetry unit by having students bring lyrics to their favorite songs. It was my way of heading off the “I don’t like poetry” complaints. We all enjoy poetic expressions in some form – the book is a way to highlight that.”
The book’s length will totally depend on the number of submissions. Hopefully, it’s a really BIG book,” said Kahler.
The book will grandly make its debut at the Booksville Festival. “The book will be released for sale that weekend,” said Kahler, “and contributors will be encouraged to attend and sign copies.”
Prizes will be awarded to youth and adult category winners in the contest.
Contest entries will be judged based on poetic technique, effectiveness, style, and creativity. Prizes will be awarded for first, second, and third place in both Youth (age 11-17) and Adult categories. All contestants will be allowed to be featured in a poetry anthology, and no purchase is required. Every author will receive one free copy of the published anthology.
The subject for all submissions is “Virtue.” Contest organizers provide a handy list of ordinary virtues to inspire poets (https://www.virtuesforlife.com/virtues-list/) who can write their works in any poetic style, excluding haiku and limerick.
“The Booksville Festival has a Lead Team that has been meeting to plan all aspects of the Festival. In our May meeting, either Margy Wollerton or Kyle Marra (a former student of both Margy and myself) came up with the theme,” said Kahler. “We liked the theme because it is specific enough to make the book coherent but broad enough to give the writer freedom.”
The poem, in its entirety, must be an original work by the person entering the contest. Furthermore, any entry containing cliché or overused phrases will not be accepted, such as ‘Roses are red,’ ‘Think outside the box,’ or ‘At the end of the day.’ All poems must be written in English. Contest entries must be at least three but cannot exceed 26 lines (including stanza breaks) and cannot exceed 55 characters per line (including spaces between words).
The contest is open to poets aged eleven (11) and up; the poet’s name and address will be verified. Only one poem per person may be submitted. Poetry submissions must be uploaded via a PDF using the form found on this page and must be received by the webmaster by September 15, 2024. The poem should be 2-4 pages in length. Poems containing vulgar, offensive, or inappropriate language will not be accepted. For questions, email [email protected].
For additional guidelines or to submit a poem, visit https://www.booksville.org/poetry-submission.
All authors are welcome to participate in the Booksville Festival. “Participating authors can sign up for a vendor spot on our website,” said Kahler. “There will be no charge for their space, they will just donate their book/s for us to use in stocking the Little Free Libraries around the county. Participating authors will also be invited to do a reading hosted on the Woman’s Club stage.”
Kahler hopes that the Booksville Poetry and Anthology will, ultimately, inspire a font of divine inspiration in the Hernando community, producing a string of words and ideas sure to enrich our cultural landscape in this county. Kahler stated, “I hope the collection will encourage writers to keep writing and to inspire new writers to start!”
More History on the Concept of ‘Books’ville
The ‘Books’ville concept was explored back in 2005. Brian Brijbag worked for the city of Brooksville as the Redevelopment Coordinator under Bill Geiger. He explained, ” My responsibilities included promoting the city and the downtown. We had started the award-winning Bandshell Bash in conjunction with the Fine Arts Council. As part of my role, I was seeking out innovative ways to highlight the distinctiveness of Brooksville.”
He had several discussions with the Jack Kerouac Foundation. They were in possession of his childhood home as well as had a warehouse of approximately 50,000 used books on various topics. The idea was purely a marketing strategy for Brooksville to be known as “Booksville.” This would include several things:
• Move the Jack Kerouac house to Russell Street Park
• Create an author’s trail at Russell Street Park
• Distribute books to local businesses ie. a Dental office would have some books relating to dentistry in their lobby
• Plan multiple annual book themed events in the downtown
• Open book themed bed and breakfast accommodations
• Open used book stores in downtown
Ultimately the idea did not come to fruition as city council declined to proceed.
