Poetry Society of Tennessee

EST. 1953

PST News

  • PST Seeks Festival Sponsors for 70th Annual Poetry Festival

    Help make our 70th festival a huge success: sponsor a poetry festival contest! How have poetry trends changed over seven decades? What kind of poetry would you like to see in our next edition of Tennessee Voices, PST’s annual anthology? As a sponsor, you can help us share work representing poetry’s diversity, tapping into past trends, member inventions (like the Dorsimbra), and the broad interests of our growing membership.

    You do not need to be a member to sponsor a contest. We invite individuals and organizations to sponsor. Sponsors will be recognized on PST’s website and blog, through PST social media channels, and in the 2026-2027 edition of Tennessee Voices.

    Festival contest sponsorship applications will be open through the earlier of August 4, 2026, or meeting our contest limit.

    What Does a Sponsor Do?

    Sponsors create their own poetry contest! As a sponsor, you choose the theme or poetic form, note poem length, specify prize award amounts, and provide any other special instructions for entrants or judges. In many cases, sponsors also judge the contest, but that is not a requirement. While we encourage variety in poetic forms and themes, PST does not accept contests or poetry centered on explicitly violent or sexual themes.

    In general, individuals and businesses may sponsor one contest. However, PST will also accept memorial contest sponsorships, one per individual or group of individuals being honored. 

    What Does a Judge Do?

    PST’s festival poetry contests are judged blind. The Festival Poetry Contest Coordinator sends entries to the judge. In accordance with contest guidelines, the judge reviews contest entries, selects winners and provides a winners list to the festival contest coordinator.

    How Do I Become a Sponsor or Judge?

    If you are interested in sponsoring a festival contest, you may apply online. (Select the FESTIVAL sponsorship option.)

    If you are unable to judge your sponsored contest and need assistance to find a judge, or if you are unable to sponsor but wish to judge, contact us.

    Questions?

    Do you have questions? Reach out to poetrytennessee@gmail.com with subject line FESTIVAL SPONSORSHIP.

    Guidelines are also available on our website.

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  • As Summer Thunders In

    Spring is speeding into summer with waves of heat and cooling showers across Tennessee and in my temporary Florida headquarters. I’m still feeling the warmth of our June meeting, from recognizing volunteers of our last program year to a wonderful open mic session and a rich discussion on poetry contests.

    Meanwhile, our volunteers are working behind the scenes to bring this program year to life:

    • The Anthology Board is working on our latest edition of Tennessee Voices, and publication is on track for late summer.
    • Our ROUNDUP is back! Take time to review our summer roundup of all manner of opportunities across Tennessee and beyond: bookmark it, too, because we’ll update it all summer long.
    • Our members-only contests for this program year are also live. Dive into this eclectic poetic mix. Send in an entry for the chance to win monetary prizes and be published in next year’s anthology.
    • Our society’s Board will meet in July to discuss a variety of topics. As always, members are welcome to attend. Look for a meeting notice in the coming weeks.

    If you are looking for summer reading—including those 30 books for this year’s Sealey Challenge, held each August—why not peruse our bookstore? (If you’re a member with a poetry book not appearing on our store, send us your bio, photo, book cover(s) and blurb(s) and we will feature you!)

    I invite you to join us July 11 for our next monthly member meeting, during which poet (and member) Maria Zoccola will lead us through a discussion on persona poetry. Afterward, we will announce monthly contest winners and share our poetry. Bring a poem or two. I hope to see there.

    With gratitude and enthusiasm—
    Lisa Kamolnick
    President, Poetry Society of Tennessee
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  • Inspiring Ekphrasis in Columbia

    According to Columbia Arts Council chair Warren Feld, Columbia was once a hotspot of art and entertainment in middle Tennessee that over time lost some of its appeal. He aims to reverse this decline, making it his mission to expand the arts and the number of people who enjoy artistic adventures in Columbia. Offering poets a day of ekphrasis with a workshop led by Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST) member Cathy Hollister is just one of the ways he is bringing that mission to life.

    Feld enjoys showing off Columbia’s cultural resources: a centerpiece is the Pryor Art Gallery at Columbia State Community College. The gallery boasts a permanent collection and exhibitions. Curator Tori Zemer is understandably proud of the gallery’s current show featuring all local artists. She has filled the gallery with paintings, sculptures, and even a few fashion accessories. The result is a peaceful space that allows viewers to enter other worlds of abstraction, portraiture, farm scenes, and children’s laughter.

    Laughter was the theme of the day for the ekphrastic poetry workshop recently held at the gallery. Cathy Hollister, a society member and published poet from middle Tennessee, led a group of enthusiastic writers. Cathy provided an overview of tools that participants might use for their poems, then read several of her published ekphrastic poems. Participants considered the images and offered ideas of how to use images as inspiration. They commented on the poems, noting poetic techniques and how the image related to the work, then they turned to the art surrounding them to create their own ideas and poems. With so many works to choose from, it was an easy task. For many attendees, ekphrastic writing was a new concept. With expanding arts in the area, ekphrasis seems certain to take root in Columbia.

    Why not begin your own ekphrastic adventure? Explore ekphrastic poetry, visit a Columbia arts venue, or find inspiration in an art gallery near you.

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  • July 2026 Program with Maria Zoccola

    Mask and Muse: Persona Poetry

    In Ancient Greek theater, actors wore expressive character masks made of linen and wood that covered their entire heads; these masks acted as resonance chambers to project the actors’ voices. The Latin word for this kind of mask is “persona.” In this session, we’ll explore the persona poem as mask and as muse, examining how writing in the voice of another amplifies our own. We’ll read and discuss pieces by poets such as Lucille Clifton and Shara Lessley, and then break to try the form ourselves before returning to share the resonance of the voices we’ve found with each other.

    Join Maria Zoccola in this upcoming workshop!

    ABOUT THE PRESENTER

    Maria Zoccola is a poet and writer from Memphis, Tennessee. Her work has previously appeared in The Atlantic, Ploughshares, Kenyon Review, The Sewanee Review, and elsewhere, and has received a special mention for the Pushcart Prize. Her debut poetry collection, Helen of Troy, 1993 (Scribner, 2025), was a New York Times Editors’ Choice pick and was named a best book of the year by The New Yorker and NPR.

    MEETING INFORMATION

    This program will be presented at our upcoming PST meeting, to be held July 11, 2026, from 2:00-4:00 pm Eastern / 1:00-3:00 pm Central via Zoom. Members will be provided a link a few days prior. If you are interested in learning more about PST, check out our website. If you’d like to attend our meeting as a guest, contact us at poetrytennessee@gmail.com.

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  • June 2026 Program Highlights Members

    Volunteer Appreciation and Open Mic

    Join us for a brief celebration to recognize our 2025-2026 volunteers. Take time to say thank you to the people who brought our mission and programs to life over the past program year.

    We will also celebrate you and your poetry in an open mic session. Poets of all levels are welcome to participate. This is a fabulous opportunity to share work from your latest publication, project, or work-in-process and to practice poetic presentation in a highly supportive environment.

    MEETING INFORMATION

    This program will be presented at our upcoming PST meeting, to be held June 13, 2026, from 2:00-4:00 pm Eastern / 1:00-3:00 pm Central via Zoom. Members will be provided a link a few days prior. If you are interested in learning more about PST, check out our website. If you’d like to attend our meeting as a guest, contact us at poetrytennessee@gmail.com.

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  • Opportunities Abound: Summer 2026 Roundup

    Back by popular demand, we’re retooling our roundup. This roundup will be updated periodically through the end of summer. In it you will find various opportunities brought to our attention by organizations, members, and friends or discovered organically. Grow your skills, find submission opportunities, and more!

    Workshops

    • Poetry Society of Tennessee’s virtual monthly workshops are open to members. An email with link is sent out in advance. Recent presenters include Shan Overton and Jeffrey Heath. Check out some of our past presenters.
    • The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative offers programs related to literature and creative writing at ETSU
    • Shuly Cawood virtual generative and craft-focused writing workshops
    • John Davis Jr. “Metacreativity: The Process Behind the Poetry” mail-based tips and insights

    Submission Opportunities

    JUNE DEADLINES
    July Deadlines

    TBA

    AUGUST DEADLINES

    TBA

    rolling deadlines / ALWAYS OPEN

    Hate deadlines? Here are a few randomly selected literary venues that are always (or almost always) open to submissions:

    Events & Opportunities

    Take your poetry off the page at an open mic! You’ll find them across the state and in the virtual realm. Venues, dates and times are sometimes subject to change. Check with venue or organization in advance.

    WEST
    • Java Cabana hosts an open mic every Thursday from 7:00-10:00 pm, featuring poetry and music. Java Cabana is located at 2170 Young Ave, Memphis.
    • The Hu Hotel Rooftop Monday open mic by Keeping it P may be coming out of hiatus. Stay tuned for updates. Follow them on instagram (@https://www.instagram.com/wekeepingitp/).
    • Every last Friday of the month, 7:00 pm, is Thee Last Friday at the Rumba Room, 303 S. Main, Memphis. Poetry/Music/Live Art. There is a cover charge at the door, but anyone can sign up for the open mic. Also try the Thursday open mic at 627 Chelsea Ave, Memphis but I haven’t been to that one.
    • PizzaMe hosts a weekly Monday open mic at 7:00 pm. 2857 Kirby Rd #117, Germantown.
    • Third Saturdays join The Poetry Club, 3:00 pm at Coffee Central, 5627 Getwell Rd. Southaven, MS 38672. Share up to 3 minutes of original poetry or short prose. Good listeners also welcome. Young children are also invited to read original works or a favorite poem. We do not censor any social, political, religious, or philosophical viewpoint. However, please no graphic content and profanity in consideration of Coffee Central’s public space: we should not and will not offend other customers or negatively affect business.
    MIDDLE

    Poetry in the Boro is a monthly open mic and featured reading series hosted in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, currently held at the Dapper Owl Coffee Pub & Bakery and at many other locations when collaborating with other organizations in the community. Often meet the second or third Sunday evening of each month but dates can vary, especially when partnering with other organizations and groups. Get details.

    MIDEAST

    Sawmill Poetry is a poetry reading and open mic held at the ​The Plenty Bookstore in Cookeville, Tennessee. Get details.

    SOUTHEAST
    EAST
    • The Red Branch Review holds a monthly open mic on the first Friday of each month, 8:00 p.m. at Pretentious Beer, following their First Friday reading series at Union Avenue Books held from 6:00-7:30 p.m..
    • Third Thursdays at The Maker’s Space, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM in Knoxville, TN. Former Knoxville Poet Laureate Rhea Carmon hosts. Check with venue beforehand.
    • The Declaration: I Am Tennessee project launches July 16, 6:30-8:30 pm, East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St, Knoxville. This project is funded by TN 250 and a partnership of Knoxville’s poet laureate, Linda Parsons, the Knoxville Writers Guild, and the East Tennessee Historical society. Thirty Knox County residents write how Tennessee has shaped them as part of the U.S. 250th anniversary celebration. In addition to the July 16 launch of the Declaration project, five of the authors will perform at the East Tennessee History Center’s East TN History Fair on August 15
    • Apply to participate! Book Fair at the King Family Library in Sevierville on October 11 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Details and a form you will need to complete in order to participate are in the link below. 
      https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdqS5pZ65qNUtg1PYUD66xzGhjy6sSg7xmkv3YNxU9IE4QXWA/viewform?pli=1
    • Applications are open for the Appalachian WordFest, a one day celebration of “the voices, stories, and creativity that flow from our beloved Appalachian Mountains.” You can apply to be a presenter, sell your books ($50 booth fee), etc. To be held Saturday, February 27, 2027, 9-3,  at Event Center at The Ridge, 1250 Middle Creek Rd, Sevierville, TN 37862.  https://seviervillechamberofcommerce.wufoo.com/forms/m1maxksr1qk02me/ 

    NORTHEAST

    VIRTUAL
    • Sunday, June 28,, 2-4 p.m on Zoom: The Sundress Academy for the Arts presents Poetry Xfit hosted by Shelby Hansen. This is a generative workshop event via Zoom.  Join at the link tiny.utk.edu/sundress with the password “safta”. While this event is free and open to the public, donations are appreciated.
    • Monday, June 29, 7 p.m.: POETRY PIE meets  via Zoom at 7 p.m. Poets of all levels welcome to read up to three poems. Contact Pat Hope at thetwohopes@aol.com for details and the monthly link.

    Are we missing an open mic in Tennessee? Let us know!

    On Demand

    Find More Opportunities

    So little time, so many ways to find homes for your work. Are we missing a good one? Let us know!

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  • A (Brief) Meditation on Appreciation

    As I write, I’ve just returned to Florida after not-quite-a-week in Tennessee. It was wonderful to reconnect with a few of the poets in our Tennessee community; I’m so grateful for these friendships. I also (finally!!) submitted some poems to lit mags. I may not hit 100 rejections in 2026, but the count will exceed zero, and I’ll take that as a blessing. As for our society, I appreciate how you are showing up. As I look back through our past year, I’m especially grateful for the many people who volunteered time, talent, and treasure to our programs and activities. (When we say we are society by poets for poets, we really mean it.) Thank you for the part you have played in making our 2025-2026 program year so wonderful.

    I’m looking forward to more good things for our new program year! Our first Board meeting was held May 18, and we are off and running. Jeffrey Heath, our new program chair, has some compelling monthly programs lined up for you through the summer, with more to come. The Anthology Board is working on Tennessee Voices Anthology, and our members-only contests are shaping up. This year we will hold our 70th Annual Poetry Festival! We are also working on some important changes to streamline and modernize our processes and looking at more ways to bring our mission to life. Look for details in the coming weeks and months.

    If you are looking for summer reading, why not peruse our bookstore? If you’re a member with a poetry book not appearing on our store, send us your bio, photo, book cover(s) and blurb(s) and we will feature you!

    I invite you to join us June 13 for our next monthly member meeting, during which we briefly honor our volunteers and acknowledge accomplishments. Afterward, we will share poetry. Bring a poem or two. From calm and quiet to wild and weird, published or unpublished, we just want to hear your work! (And be ready to write in case we spring a prompt on you!) I hope to see there.

    With appreciation and enthusiasm—
    Lisa Kamolnick
    President, Poetry Society of Tennessee
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  • New: Dragons and Chiggers From Howard Carman

    Dragons and Chiggers, a collaboration between father and son, is now available for purchase. This collection of paintings (Sr.) and poems (Jr.) captures nearly 90 years of memories, dreams, and visions. Both are ekphrastic: some poems written in response to paintings; some art painted in response to poems; some written and painted independently in response to common experience or memory.

    Praise for Dragons and Chiggers

    Watercolor and poems speak across generations, turning memory into craft and devotion into texture. Filled with imagistic beauty and sophistication, the poems move with tenderness and grit, attentive to the sacredness of ordinary life and the gentle ache of time.

    — William G. Wright, author of Grass Chapels, Tree Heresies, Night Field Anecdote, andDark Orchard

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    Step into a world where the quiet beauty of the everyday is captured in a delicate dance of pigment and poetry. . . . A soulful tribute to faith, heritage, and the natural world, this collection is a must-have for those who find beauty in a brushstroke and wisdom in poetry.

    — Millie J. Brummet, Ph.D., Artist

    Get your copy of Dragons and Chiggers here.

    About the Author

    Howard S. Carman, Jr., Ph.D., retired in 2018 after a 32-year career as an R&D chemist at a National Laboratory and Fortune 500 chemical company. A swellheaded scientist, he disdained literature, especially poetry, during his educational and career years. That changed during a spirituality retreat at the Northumbria Community in 2011, when he wrote the first poem he ever kept. He has continued writing since. 

    He published his first collection of mostly metered and rhymed spiritual poems, But Now I See: Rhymes and Reflections, in 2017. Upon retirement, he joined Poetry Society of Tennessee and now serves on its Board of Directors and the Tennessee Voices Anthology editorial board.

    He is presently studying with William G. Wright, Ph.D., writer, editor, educator, and founder of Blue Leaf Writing & Editing, to improve and expand his poetry. 

    Recent poetry appears in Tennessee Voices Anthology, Black Moon Magazine, Abyss & Apex, Braided Way Magazine, Troublesome Rising Digital Anthology, and A Places For All Voices anthology (see “Poems” page).

    Howard and his wife, Karen, live in Northeast Tennessee. When not reading or writing poetry, Howard can usually be found in a mountain stream or a river tailwater fly fishing for trout.

    Learn more at https://howardcarman.com.

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  • A Season Shifts

    As I write, spring invites one outdoors to enjoy temperate weather and the lift of life across the land. Poems, too, rise like fresh air and burst forth in bloom as we celebrate National Poetry Month. I’m so grateful to have witnessed the shifting beauty of the season, from dogwood bloom along the trail from Florida to Tennessee to the graceful soar of swallowtail kites above Florida pines and the music of your poetry at our recently held 69th Annual Poetry Festival.

    Congratulations to our festival winners and our student contest winners. We so appreciate our poets of all ages and the people who support their endeavors. Thank you to all our society members, for joining, for showing up, and for being a part of this community. We are poets serving poets and poetry across Tennessee and beyond, and we are grateful to each of you for your contributions to our society.

    Although personal circumstances have curtailed my involvement with the society (and poetry in general) this past few months, I am grateful as ever for this community and dedicated to continuing to build our network of poets and poetry-focused organizations during my next term. THANK YOU to our board members and volunteers, who are powering us into the future with significant achievements: we will celebrate them in June. I wish our leaving directors and volunteers well and look forward to working with our new board and incoming volunteers over the next two years.

    We will close our program year with 142 members, and I hope we see more poets join us next year. My dream is that Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST) will become a hub for poets, connecting you to PST-sponsored activities and other community activities or groups that support you in your work, and connecting you to one another! If you are so moved, I invite you to help us reach that goal. We always have space for those interested in volunteering for roles small or large.

    For each of our current members, my wish is that you found something of value in our programs this past season. I hope you will renew when your membership expires. For those considering membership, I invite you to explore our website, reach out to us, or visit with us as a guest and see if PST is for you.

    A big thank you to members for your vote of confidence in our proposed leadership board. We are already working on plans and projects for the coming year. For starters, look for an update on contest submissions soon.

    I invite you to join us May 9 at our next monthly member meeting, where we will introduce our new program director, Jeffrey Heath, who will present The Breath of the Line, a program exploring enjambment, line length and white space in poems. Bring a poem to share after the program! I hope to see you (and hear your poetry!) at a meeting soon.

    With gratitude and anticipation—
    Lisa Kamolnick
    President, Poetry Society of Tennessee
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  • May 2026 Program with Jeffrey Heath

    The Breath of the Line

    This workshop examines how enjambment, line length, and whitespace can help create meaning. Through close reading of poets like William Carlos Williams, Sharon Olds, Robert Creeley, and others, participants will analyze how line breaks create delay, misdirection, and layered interpretation within a poem. Writing exercises focus on using the line as a unit of tension, where each break produces a temporary meaning that is then revised or complicated by what follows. The goal is to develop sharper control over how a poem unfolds, allowing lines to generate pressure, ambiguity, and surprise.

    Join Jeffrey Heath in this upcoming workshop!

    ABOUT THE PRESENTER

    Jeffrey Heath was born in Amarillo, Tx and raised in South Florida. His first chapbook, American Drug Poems (2000) coincided with his time on the poetry slam scene where he represented the city of West Palm Beach at the National Poetry Slam (2001, 2002). Jeffrey’s work has appeared online and in print in several literary and poetry journals, including Eunoia Review, Sky Island Journal, Third Wednesday Magazine, Pictura Journal, Mulskinner Journal, wildscape. Literary Journal, among others; and as a featured poet in Neologism Poetry Journal and on Goodreads. He is the founding editor of January House Literary Journal. His second book, Entropy Loop & Other Poems (2025), was an  Amazon bestseller. Jeffrey currently lives in Memphis, TN.


    MEETING INFORMATION

    This program will be presented at our upcoming PST meeting, to be held May 9, 2026, from 2:00-4:00 pm Eastern / 1:00-3:00 pm Central via Zoom. Members will be provided a link a few days prior. If you are interested in learning more about PST, check out our website. If you’d like to attend our meeting as a guest, contact us at poetrytennessee@gmail.com.

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