The University of Iowa School of Social Work, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, announces the first annual National Poetry Contest for Social Workers. Any social work student, faculty member, or alumnus from a social work program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education may participate in the contest. The format for the contest will vary each year. For the inaugural year, participants are invited to submit a seven-line poem. The deadline for submission is March 1, 2013. Poems should speak to hopes, dreams, fears, concerns, and experiences related to social work.

The purpose of the contest is to acknowledge the creative talent of social workers and to draw attention to social work as a profession.

“Hosting the national poetry contest here in Iowa City is a natural extension of what the School of Social Work has been doing for decades,” says faculty member Mercedes Bern-Klug, a founder of the poetry contest. “We have a 20-year track record of offering a Creative Writing Seminar for social workers and the University of Iowa is known as the ‘writing university.’ Iowa City is a UNESCO City of Literature. Writing is in the air.”

There is no cost to enter the contest. One submission per social worker is allowed. Entries will be judged by a panel of social workers, writers, and poets. The top three submissions will be awarded cash prizes and all submissions will be published in a chapbook and on the UI School of Social Work website. For more information about prizes, deadline, and criteria, please go to www.uiowa.edu/~socialwk/creativewriting or contact Jefri Palermo at 319-335-3750 or jefri-palermo@uiowa.edu.