<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Exchange Server">
<!-- converted from rtf -->
<style><!-- .EmailQuote { margin-left: 1pt; padding-left: 4pt; border-left: #800000 2px solid; } --></style>
</head>
<body>
<font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size:12pt;">
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div style="padding-left:252pt;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</div>
<div style="padding-left:252pt;">October 25, 2011</div>
<div style="padding-left:252pt;">Contact: Mary E. Hope</div>
<div style="padding-left:252pt;">fishtrappe@hughes.net</div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
<div>FOURTEENTH ANNUAL STUDENT POETRY CONTEST</div>
<div>SPONSORED BY OREGON POETRY ASSOCIATION</div>
<div> </div>
<div> Portland – The Oregon Poetry Association (OPA) is sponsoring its fourteenth annual Oregon Student Poetry Contest it was announced by Laura LeHew, OPA president. Mary E. Hope, Klamath Falls Ore., is the 2012 contest chair. </div>
<div> “All Oregon students, kindergarten through 12th grade, enrolled in public, private, parochial and alternative schools and home schooled are invited to submit poetry,” LeHew said. There is no entry fee. Entries must be postmarked no later than February
1, 2012 to be eligible. Teams of OPA members that include established Oregon poets and high school and college poetry teachers judge the poems.</div>
<div> Ten winners each in four age categories receive cash prizes ranging from $5 for honorable mentions to $30 for first place. All forty winning poems will be published in <i>Cascadia: The Oregon Student Poetry Contest Anthology.</i> Each winner will
receive a certificate and a copy of the anthology. </div>
<div> The winning poems and honorable mentions in the middle and high school divisions will be sent to the annual Manningham Trust Student Contest sponsored by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NSFPS). This national competition also
awards cash prizes and publication in an anthology. Over the past twelve years, Oregon students have won more than two dozen awards in the national contest. </div>
<div> Writing poetry to enter in the contest is typically a class project organized by teachers in the various types of schools. LeHew urged parents and teachers to encourage students to enter the contest. “If you teach or know teachers, spread the word,”
she said. “Take copies of the contest guidelines to your local schools. This is an excellent opportunity both to encourage and to reward creativity in Oregon students.”</div>
<div> Complete guidelines can be found at <a href="http://www.oregonpoets.org/"><font color="blue"><u>www.oregonpoets.org</u></font></a> or by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Student Contest, P.O. Box 1016, Klamath Falls, OR 97601-1016or
e-mail to <a href="mailto:fishtrappe@hughes.net"><font color="blue"><u>fishtrappe@hughes.net</u></font></a>. </div>
<div style="text-indent:36pt;">OPA is a not-for-profit association whose mission is to bring together and nurture the widest possible community of Oregon poets; to help Oregon poets young and old develop their talents and skills; to stimulate, at the grass
roots level, a statewide appreciation for poetry; and to raise public awareness of Oregon poets, past and present.</div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;">-end-</div>
<div align="center" style="text-align:center;"> </div>
<div><font color="#006600"> </font></div>
<div> </div>
<div> </div>
</span></font>
</body>
</html>