Woven Words Tiny Poem Contest: Teen Voices from the Central Valley, presented by MoSt Poetry’s Stanislaus County Youth Poet Laureate program in partnership with the MJC Library & Learning Center, is now open for submissions from Stanislaus County high school students grades 9-12. 

Poets are invited to submit 1-3 very short poems (3-5 lines). The contest is free and open to anyone living in or attending high schools in Stanislaus County.

The author of the winning poem in each of the five categories wins $50. Poets are also invited to submit poems to the anthology without connecting them to the contest themes. The contest deadline is January 31, 2026. Stanislaus County YPL Valentina Zeff will weave the short submissions together to create one book-length poem, to be published as an anthology and distributed to participants.

Zeff will be conducting a mini-workshop on writing an author biography and will be available to discuss the contest on Saturday, November 15, 2026, at 1:00 pm on Zoom. Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82762767808. 

Although this is intended for teen poets grades 9-12 who live in or attend schools in Stanislaus County, all are welcome to attend the November 15 mini-workshop.