Flapper Press Announces the "Chiaroscuro: Hope in Uncertain Times" Poetry Contest
By Flapper Press Poetry Café:
The Flapper Press Poetry Café announces our end-of-the-year poetry contest!
"Chiaroscuro: Hope in Uncertain Times" is a poetry contest designed to celebrate the human spirit's ability to navigate the fog of the unknown. For this challenge, you are asked to capture the delicate, gritty reality of hope in uncertain times using a compressed, short sonnet format. We want to read poems where hope isn't a guaranteed victory but a quiet act of steadiness when the ground beneath us is shifting.
The Format: The Curtal Sonnet
To emphasize the feeling of being constrained by "uncertain times," this contest utilizes the Curtal Sonnet format—a condensed, 11-line variation of the traditional 14-line sonnet.
The Ultimate Challenge:
Try to convey the feeling of hope without
actually using the words "hope" or "uncertain."
Contest Rules & Structure:
Your submission must strictly adhere to the following architectural rules:
Line Count: Exactly 11 lines.
Stanza Breakdown: A sestet (6 lines) followed by a quintet (5 lines).
Rhyme Scheme: Must strictly follow ABCABC for the first 6 lines and DBCDC (or DCBDC) for the last 5 lines.
The Volta (The Turn): Line 7 must feature a clear volta. The first 6 lines should anchor the reader heavily in the atmospheric tension of "uncertain times" (e.g., doubt, fog, waiting, ambiguity, etc.), while the final 5 lines must pivot cleanly toward a small, earned anchor of hope.
No titles are required—Let your first line pull us directly into your world.
Meter: Written in Iambic Pentameter (10 syllables per line, unstressed/stressed rhythm).
Submission Details:
Submissions Open: Immediately.
Submission Deadline: November 26, 2026
How to Enter: Submit your poem in plain text within the body of the email submission or as an attachment to info@flapperpress.com
Subject line should contain:
Your Name - 2026 Chiaroscuro Poetry Contest
Each submission should include a brief bio and poet’s photo.
Multiple submissions are allowed, but each poem must be sent as a separate
email.
There is no entry fee to submit to this contest.
We will announce FIVE selections to feature in a Flapper Press article in December 2026.
Each of the five selected poets will be awarded $25.
All submissions will be considered for Flapper Press nominations to the annual Pushcart Prize competition.
Flapper Press is always open to new content that provides a unique voice or perspective. We are currently accepting SUBMISSIONS for every category on Flapper Press. If you have questions or would like to submit your work, please carefully review our Submission Guidelines and contact us at: info@flapperpress.com.
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