Members of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild are invited to submit up to five short poems for publication as individual keepsake poetry cards in the Guild’s 2025 Poems on Wheels (POW!) project. With this single, no-fee submission, your poem(s) may be selected for any one of four POW! cards to be distributed in 2025.
NOTE: This is not a contest and selection is not blind. The project editors are Rachel Baum and Rhonda Rosenheck.
Background
Poems on Wheels (POW!) began in December 2024 with the creation and distribution of 2,000 3”x5” poem cards to homebound, disabled and isolated seniors in the NYS Capital Region counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady. That card featured the poem “Moods” by Sara Teasdale, a work in the public domain. We hope to feature the poems of HVWG members for some, if not all, of the cards that will be distributed quarterly in 2025.
POW! recognizes that elderly or otherwise homebound people face not only issues around food insecurity and social isolation but also cultural, intellectual, and emotional isolation. The cards are placed in food bags, trays, and packages, in cooperation with each county’s Department of the Aging and similar agencies.
Guidelines
- Current members of HVWG may submit up to five poems by February 24, 2025.
- No fee. You may join the HVWG ($30/$15) immediately prior to submission. https://hvwg.org/membership/join/.
- Poems submitted after the deadline will be deleted unread.
- Each poem may be no longer than 10 lines, with each line including 7 or fewer words.
- Selection criteria include how accessible, uplifting, and meaningful poems are to the widely diverse audience of homebound elders and others.
- No translations or AI-aided or generated poems.
- Send an email to poemsonwheelshvwg@gmail.com, with a bio of 25-30 words and one website or social media link, to be included on the project’s page at HVWG.org.
- Attach each poem as a separate Word document, single-spaced, in a simple 12-point type. Name each document with this format: “Poemtitle-Poetlastname”. Include in each document: the poem title, poet’s name (or pen name), and contact info (email address, mailing address, and phone number).
- Simultaneous submissions are accepted. If a submitted poem is accepted elsewhere, email the POW! editors at poemsonwheelshvwg@gmail.com Please use the subject line “Withdraw-Poemtitle”.
- All submissions will be considered for any of the four 2025 poem cards. Decisions for all cards will be made in March 2025.
- This is a 100% volunteer project, so there is no payment for publication; the editors will mail 10 cards to you as a thank you.
Read and follow all the guidelines listed above. Send your email with poems attached as separate Word documents to poemsonwheelshvwg@gmail.com. The deadline for submissions is February 24, 2025.
