If you’re an American high school student, take advantage of this unusual scholarship chance to win a poetry scholarship contest and be the high school poet of the year! Take your place among the members of the unique society known as the Live Poets Society (a slightly oddball takeoff on the well-known movie “Dead Poet Society”), and win a merit scholarship for college.

The National High School Poetry Contest, also known as the Easterday Poetry Scholarships Contest, awards $1,000 to the poet of the year. In addition to this poet, first, second and third place winners will be chosen, and many poets will receive an honorable mention as well. Winners, however, must consent to have their poems published; so if you don’t want your poem published, don’t enter this poetry competition!

You can enter one poem during each poetry scholarship contest period while you remain a high school student. Your poem must be written in English, and you may only use a foreign word or phrase if you also include the translation in your poem. Winning poems will be less than 20 lines in length.

One of the most unusual aspects of this poetry for scholarships contest is that there is no topic or theme about which the poets are expected to write. You’re free to choose the subject of your poetry, no matter how ordinary or how weird that subject might be. Creativity, originality, and quality of artistic and poetic expression are the only other criteria on which the judging is based.

This scholarships foundation allows students entering the scholarships for poetry competition to enter online, or to submit their poem by mail. No entry fee is required, but the entry must be POSTMARKED by the deadline date. Entries received after the deadline date will be accepted only if they were postmarked on or before this date.

The Live Poets Society will hold two poetry scholarships contests this year. The October 31, 2008 deadline for the fall contest has already passed; any poems submitted from now until March 31, 2009 will be entered into the spring poem contest. One Poet of the Year will be selected, and the name of this person will be announced on July 4, 2009.

While winning poems will be published by the society in a poetry anthology, or collection of poems, the persons who entered their work will retain rights to their poetry. The Society believes firmly that artists and writers should retain full rights to their works, so you can submit your poem to other publications at any time.

If you’re looking for an unusual scholarship way to earn money for college, you may find success in entering this unique poetry scholarship contest. You may just be the next T.S. Eliot or Robert Frost for which the committee is looking, so don’t miss out on this exceptional source of college tuition money just because you were too shy to apply. Your oddball humor, sharply witty comments, or your slightly weird perspective may be exactly what the judges are looking for!