In partnership with Vanderbilt’s English Department and MFA Program in Creative Writing, the Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy welcomes Vanderbilt University undergraduate and graduate students to submit a poem about what unity through American democracy means to them. Please submit a poem in the style of your choosing. For inspiration, please take in this short video about the project’s origins and purpose: https://youtu.be/B3hwGkwg1po.
Poem submissions should keep the project’s seven pillars in mind: · Polarization: Its Past, Present and Future · Hours of Hope: Case Studies in American Progress · Race in America: Toward a Nation of Equality · Under God: The Role of Religion in a Divided Time · To Keep the Republic: Strengthening Democratic Principles at Home and Abroad · Information Marketplace: Ensuring the Public Has the Data · Cultural Bridges: Using Artistic Expression to Narrow the Divide
The contest winner will have their poem featured by the Nashville Metro Transit Authority in a fashion appropriate to the piece. Three finalists will have the opportunity to share their poems at a VUP sponsored reading during Poetry Month (April 2022) and will receive VU dollar prizes as follows: First Place: $1,000 Second Place: $500 Third Place: $250
Submission deadline is Monday, April 4, 2022. To learn more about the project, visit https://www.vanderbilt.edu/unity/