Mary L. Blood Memorial Library’s Community Poetry Book
To celebrate poetry month, the library will be publishing a poetry book containing the poetry of West Windsor residents of all ages. Submissions will be collected throughout the month of April, and if we gather enough submissions, we will be putting the books together over the summer, with publication planned for the fall of 2026.
Theme
In honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary, our theme will be Community.
Please feel free to loosely interpret this: Community could mean place, friendship, family, solidarity, symbiosis with the natural world, activism, collectivism, hope, the future, humanity, diversity, animal communities, or anything else that means community to you.
Who can submit their poetry?
Any resident of West Windsor can submit their poetry following the guidelines below.
Publication Details
This book will be published and will be available for sale. Any and all proceeds will benefit the Friends of the Mary Blood Library.
Submission is not a guarantee of publication. We will strive to include everyone, but poems that don’t follow guidelines or which are not ready for publication may be considered for a future publication instead. Publishing this book also requires a minimum number of poems to be viable.
Authors will retain rights over their poems and are free to submit or publish them elsewhere. This book is about community, the craft of poetry, and fun!
Submission Guidelines
Submission: Please submit through THIS FORM.
Length: Please try to keep poems under 1000 words.
Subject matter: This is a whole-community-friendly poetry book, which means readers of all ages are encouraged to participate. Heavy subject matter is fine, but this isn’t the place for explicit content.
Poets under 18 will need permission from a parent or guardian to have their poem included.
Amateur poets are not only welcomed, but encouraged! Please remember that this is for fun and to share with our community.
AI: Please do not use AI to write your poem. This project is about human expression.
Who is sponsoring this?
The Library staff and the Friends of the Mary L. Blood Memorial Library will be working together on this project. Individuals in both groups have previous publishing experience and will lend that experience to this project. The Friends will manage any proceeds, and will prioritize those funds for the library’s poetry collection and literary events.
Questions?
Questions can be directed to Liz or Penny at westwindsorpoetry@gmail.com