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The Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize

An award for the best poem in traditional form by a University of Michigan student (graduate or undergraduate). “Traditional form” has been interpreted to mean metered, but not necessarily rhymed, verse.

Rules of Eligibility

The award is open to all University of Michigan students with no particular course or hour requirements. Only one poem may be submitted in the contest. The following restrictions apply:

  • No student who has won this award may compete again in the contest, nor may a winning poem be subsequently entered in any other Hopwood Program Contest, with the exception of fellowship/scholarship contests.
  • No poem that has been published in a medium other than a college or high school magazine or newspaper may be entered in the contest.
  • Manuscript

Entries should be in 10-12 point font, with a left-hand margin of 1 inch, in PDF format. Contestants must use a pen name - entirely different from their real name. Please make sure the pen name in your profile matches the one on the PDF. This name should only appear on the title page, nowhere else in the manuscript. 

The PDF must have a title page on which shall appear: 

  • The title
  • The pen name 
  • The contest (e.g., The Bain-Swiggett Poetry Prize)