The Delaware Poets Almanac is a new nonprofit organization working to create an umbrella that all Delaware poets can come under to learn more about opportunities with poetry, such as seminars, workshops, open-mic events and even contests. In Sussex County, the Delaware Poets Almanac has coordinated two contests – one is underway and another contest will follow shortly after.

As the newly formed nonprofit expands partnerships across all three counties, the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society and Museum is hosting a contest to memorialize a specific piece of Delaware’s history, the famous Dolle’s sign. Ode to the Dolle’s Sign Summer Poetry Contest asks poets to create a piece in response to the sign that has been a symbol of summer fun for decades. 

Submissions will be accepted through Friday, July 31, and then reviewed by native readers using a blind system. Award-winning poet and former Mississippi Poet Laureate Catherine Pierce will declare the winner. The winner of this statewide contest will be asked to attend a reception at the Rehoboth Beach Museum in August, where the poem will be displayed in the lobby alongside other historic poems that are tied to generational memories of the coastal town.

Torrey Francis Malek, director of the organization, is thrilled to partner with the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society.

“The contest is a nice commemoration that will connect Delaware’s poetic past and bring it into the future by recognizing a strong piece of contemporary poetic work in Rehoboth today,” he said.

In September, there will be another contest for Delaware residents in collaboration with Dogfish Head Brewery. For two decades, Dogfish Head Brewery held an annual contest that was open to Mid-Atlantic poets looking to submit manuscripts. The winning author received a $500 cash prize, two cases of craft beer and a book publication by the Broadkill River Press.

The final year of competition was 2022, but the Delaware Poets Almanac is organizing a smaller competition to pay homage to the original competition.

Modified to single-poem submissions and open to any subject, the first 250 submissions received Aug. 1-31 will be judged. After the winner is announced, a reception will be held Friday, Sept. 25, at Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton to celebrate the contest. 

The 250th birthday of America invites reflection on the nation’s founding, but it also allows the community to celebrate the plurality of poetic voices that have shaped Delaware’s cultural identity. Delaware Poets Almanac works to create a community that centers around celebrating individual voices and honoring the history of not only Delaware, but also the United States as a whole.