Bucks County Community College is searching for a scribe who will be named the 50th Bucks County Poet Laureate.
The winner of the competition receives a $500 honorarium, along with a plaque from the county commissioners, and will be honored with a November reading and reception at Bucks County Community College with 2025 Poet Laureate Madeline Marriott and contest runners-up.
The preliminary judge will be Michelle Messina Reale, a poet, writer and professor at Arcadia University. She is the 2026 Poet Laureate of Montgomery County, the director of Arcadia University's low-residency MFA program, and the author of several poetry collections including her latest, “Let it be Extravagant” (Bordighera Press, 2025). She is the founding and managing editor of both 'OVUNQUE SIAMO: New Italian-American Writing' and 'The Red Fern Review.'
The final judge will be Jeanne Marie Beaumont, the author of five books of poetry, including 'Placebo Effects,' a winner of the National Poetry Series, and most recently 'Lessons with Scissors.' She is coeditor of 'The Poets’ Grimm' anthology and author of the verse play 'Asylum Song.' She formerly served as director of the Frost Place Seminar and has taught at Rutgers University, the Stonecoast MFA program, and the 92nd St. Y. Born and raised in Delaware County, Pa., she has lived in New York City for over 40 years.
The Bucks County Poet Laureate program, administered by Bucks County Community College, began in 1977 and is the longest-running poet laureate contest in Pennsylvania.
There is no fee to enter. Residents over the age of 18, who have not previously earned the title, are invited to submit their work. The entry requires 10 poems, in any style, form, or length. All work must be original, published or unpublished, typewritten or word-processed, in black ink, with one poem per page. Deadline is Friday, Sept. 25.
Interested applicants can submit poems online at bucks.edu/poetlaureateentry
For more information, contact Dr. Ethel Rackin at ethel.rackin@bucks.edu
