The Douglas Freels Contest and The Robert Grimes “Good Earth” Contest

Douglas Freels was an FCCJ student who loved to write poetry and to contribute to the student literary magazine, The Experience. After he died in an auto accident at the age of 28, his mother, Mrs. Harriett Freels, established an account with the FCCJ Foundation to honor her son and his love of poetry. The Douglas Freels Contest accepts poems with traditional subjects: love, loss, sex, desire, yearning, apathy, spirituality, life in general, etc.

Robert Grimes was an insurance executive who retired and continued his volunteer work with the Sierra Club and joined the Writers’ Festival planning board. He was also a nature photographer with a keen sense of what makes a Good Earth.
The Robert Grimes “Good Earth” Contest accepts poems dedicated to ecology, the love of nature, caring for the planet, etc.

Entrant Guidelines and Checklist

• Each entry requires a $7 entry fee or 3 for $18.
• Make checks payable to First Coast Writers’ Festival, indicating “Poetry Contest” in the For line of the check.
• Mail entries to Writers’ Festival Contests, 4501 Capper Road, Jacksonville, FL 32218, ATTN Dr. Dana Thomas.
• Each entry should be typed, as they appear when published, usually single spaced with two spaces between stanzas.
• Entrants should include two copies of each submission.
• Entries should include a heading on one of the copies of the submission indicating name, address, phone number and e-mail address. The second copy should have only the title listed on it for purposes of blind judging.
• Entries should not be the author’s only or original copy as the Festival does not return eliminated entries or accept responsibility for entries lost in the mail.
• Include a biosheet, written in third person, listing entrant’s name, address, phone number and e-mail address, and the name of the poetry contest(s) you wish to enter. Follow this information with a brief (two to three sentences) biographical statement.
• Current Florida Community College employees and Writers’ Festival Planning Committee members are not eligible for entry into the Writers’ Festival contests.
• Winning poems from past Writers’ Festival contests may not be resubmitted.

Prizes

• First Place - $150
• Second Place - $125
• Third Place - $100