Poetry Contest

2025 submissions are now open!

The purpose of this contest is to bring creative expression to life within the Greater Wyoming Valley LGBTQ+ community. We’re looking for unpublished poems that move us, make us laugh/cry, teach us something new, or a combination. By promoting the creative medium of poetry, our vision is for you to express yourself and how it pertains to “Live Out Proud.” Contest brought to you by Rainbow Alliance & NEPA Pride Project.

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The topic for the contest is “Live Out Proud.” Your poem must relate to the topic—however it resonates with you.

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Poetry Submission Expectations

  • Honest, open, and real content is encouraged.
  • Poems only. No short stories/prose accepted.
  • One submission only per person.
  • Entries must be submitted by Friday, May 16, 2025 at 11:59 PM.
  • Poems must not exceed 40 lines in length (excluding the title).
  • Poems must be submitted as a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file.
  • Must live within the boundaries of the Greater Wyoming Valley (Luzerne, Lackawanna, and Wyoming Counties).

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    Mailing Address

    We ask for your mailing address in case the prize needs to be mailed to you directly.

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    Poetry Contest Prize & Recognition

    First Place will receive:

    • $500 Visa Gift Card  
    • Featured reading on PA Live!
    • Feature in The Weekender in print and the e-edition 
    • Feature by DiscoverNEPA
    • Social Media Feature across Rainbow Alliance & NEPA Pride Project
    • Featured Reading at 2025 PrideFest

    Second Place will receive:

    • $300 Visa Gift Card
    • Poem posted on DiscoverNEPA 
    • Social Media Feature across Rainbow Alliance & NEPA Pride Project
    • Featured Reading at 2025 PrideFest

    Third Place will receive:

    • $150 Visa Gift Card
    • Poem posted on DiscoverNEPA 
    • Social Media Feature across Rainbow Alliance & NEPA Pride Project
    • Featured Reading at 2025 PrideFest

    2024 Poetry Contest Winners

    First Place
    Jolene Maleski
    Body Double

    About the Author: Jolene Maleski lives in Wilkes-Barre with her wife and son. She graduated from King's College with a degree in English Writing and currently works from home in the healthcare field. She continues to write and publish poetry and is working on a novel, probably for the rest of her life.
    Body Double Flesh is a funny thing. Skin- the outfit I was never really comfortable in Until I became hers. Warm bodies woven together in lust and love, eyes, lips and hands learning every inch while we memorized the scars to match the stories. I still absorb her confidence through kissing, now that she nurses my wounds literally, from that double mastectomy neither of us expected. Overwhelmed in gauze and tape, drains and meds, Never-ending appointments. All while still trying to be mothers to a beautiful boy who notices everything. I stand before her, this patient-wife I’ve become fresh scars after the reconstruction, more afraid of the mind and mirror, She teaches me to be proud and transparent Cursing the cancer and not myself. So I turn to stare and laugh this time instead of cry, thinking Barbie didn’t have nipples either.

    Second Place
    Jenn johnson-Hamer
    Live out proud, they say

    About the Author: Whether stories, poems, spirit, or music, Jenn Johnson-Hamer can almost always be found creating. She currently lives in a small town in the northeast with her partner, daughter, and snuggly cat. When not in her Studio, local coffee shops are her favorite places to work and chat. To follow along on her journey, subscribe to her free Voices newsletter at jjhdoveandblackbird.substack.com or follow her @doveandblackbird on social media
    Live out proud, they say But how can you When even card-carrying members Can still be made to feel Like they don’t exist Infighting. Judgment. Don’t you remember, comrades, what it feels like Not to belong How can you look into the eyes of your brother Sister Sib Child Scorn their very breath And still call yourself an ally What does it mean to live out proud When a rainbow can still draw the barrel of a gun When unity is as foreign a concept as peace As inclusion As community Where is the pride In simply opening your eyes today In living a life you’ve worked for Instead of the one dealt you In choosing to love Just love All Live out proud is arrogance When my sister still cannot walk down the street In her 6-inch heels, Feather boa, And beard This rainbow Biblically heralded as promise Promise that it would never flood again Now adopted, fostered, reclaimed It remains But by god or by community Why then are my ankles still wet My feet soaked through Stuffed inside their waterproof shoes

    Third Place
    Daniel Gomes
    Werewolf

    About the Author: Daniel Gomes is a nonbinary filmmaker and published writer raised and based in Mountain Top, PA. Daniel is a first generation American, born to British and Portuguese parents, and the first in their family to graduate college. Daniel attended Emerson College's Film Production program, where they were engaged in Boston's diverse queer community. An outspoken supporter of LGBTQ+ and BIPOC rights, Daniel combines political activism with satire and sarcasm in much of their work. They are passionate about creating social change and working towards human rights for all, with humor and weirdness along the way.
    Werewolf I don’t know when I was bit, But the marks don’t lie And now I’m stuck in the middle Waiting for that full moon That I can’t seem to wait for, I wanna be transformed full time. Those who have done it to success inspire me, But it’s not just changing your name, Or your clothes, Or your face, It’s taking away your father’s wish to have a son, Or your mother’s to have grandchildren. It's making every family reunion unbearable because your new form terrifies them. It's thinking of how your dead grandparents would have revoked their love If they knew what you had become. And after what feels like lifetimes of hiding in the shadows, Concealing your true, beastly form, Soon you find those who wish to see it. Every bit of it: The hair, the teeth, the scowl, The claws, the fangs, the eyes. And they’re not afraid. They smile and reach out for you, so that you may join them. Join them as you are As you always were As you now always will be. You are no longer a wolf in sheep’s clothing, You are a wolf in wolf’s clothing.
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