Miami-Dade Public Library’s Teen Poetry Contest Nurtures Miami’s future poets 

The idea for the Teen Poetry Contest began at the Miami-Dade Public Library’s Main Library, where staff suggested making it part of TeenTober, the library system’s annual October programming for teens. (Photo courtesy of Miami-Dade Public Library System)

Miami’s literary scene continues to grow and evolve and wanting to keep that momentum chugging along, the Miami-Dade Public Library is helping to nurture Miami’s future poets and with its Teen Poetry Contest. The contest is open to Miami-Dade County residents, between 13 and 18 years old, with a valid library card.

Submissions are open from Monday, Sept. 14 through Saturday, Oct. 17. Contest winners receive a Books & Books gift card. First place is $150, second place is $100 and third place is $50.

In addition to the contest, the locally produced and directed documentary “Poetry City,” which debuted at this year’s Miami Film Festival, will be shown twice throughout the contest. The 2026 documentary, directed by Aaron Glickman, is a portrait of Miami’s poetry and spoken-word community, using Oscar Fuentes, “The Biscayne Poet,” as its main guide.

During the contest, teens will have the opportunity to learn from the city’s most notable poets, with former Miami-Dade Poet Laureate Caridad Moro-Gronlier and current Miami-Dade County Poet Laureate Nicole Tallman along with Fuentes, hosting writing workshops.

Teens participate in the 2025 DYI Block Printing Workshop at Naranja Branch Library during TeenTober. (Photo courtesy of the Miami-Dade Public Library System)

The idea for the Teen Poetry Contest began at the Miami-Dade Public Library’s Main Library, where staff suggested making it part of TeenTober, the library system’s annual October programming for teens.

“Our staff came up with the idea and were really gung-ho on doing this poetry contest,” Miami-Dade Public Library System Director Lydia Lopez said.

Lopez said that there was a suggestion for Tallman, the current poet laureate, to participate.

“It was an easy fit and she was happy to accommodate us,” Lopez said.

Tallman then suggested Moro-Gronlier and Miami-Dade County’s first Poet Laureate Richard Blanco serve as the trio of contest judges.

“I asked Lydia and the library staff if they would like the three of us to judge the submissions and this being America’s 250^th birthday, for ‘Freedom’ to be the contest theme,” said Tallman. “And also, for it to be a sonnet poetry contest so the teens could stick to one particular form of writing.”

In preparation for the contest, Tallman will be teaching a sonnet workshop via Zoom on Saturday, Sept. 19 while Fuentes will host an in-person workshop on Friday, Oct. 2  at North Dade Regional Library and Moro-Gronlier’s will be at Westchester Library on Saturday, Oct. 3.

2026 Poet Laureate Nicole Tallman is hosting a virtual Sonnet Writing Workshop on Saturday, Sept. 19 and judging the teen poetry contest submissions. (Photo by Manny Hernandez)

“The workshops will help the teens learn the elements for creating a sonnet and getting the format down. They will learn the basics of what a sonnet is, Tallman said.

For her workshop, the poet said she will select modern sonnets and read them to the students, then will give them a prompt to create their own sonnet.

Tallman’s goal is to lessen the intimidation of poetry and help make it more accessible to the teens and “ultimately, get them excited about poetry. I am open to as many submissions as we get, and because this is so specific to a certain poetry and a theme, I am confident teens will be interested.”

During her workshop, Moro-Gronlier is tapping into the social media world of Tik Tok and Instagram and having her teens create what she’s calling Insta sonnets, a poem as small as 14 lines that she saidd, “lends itself to the lyric nature because it rhymes and is in Iambic.”

She wants them to create a love poem about anything that speaks to them, something as simple as their daily routine. “I want to give them the language to raise their voices. If they are coming to the library at such an early hour for my workshop, then I know they are serious about this.”

And hosting the workshop in person makes a difference, according to Moro-Gronlier, because “there is a magic that happens when we are in person, together in one room. I feel it when I host a reading of my work, it is much easier to bounce off the audience and, in this case, the students/teens in attendance.”

There is also a personal connection to the Westchester Branch Library, where she will host the workshop. Moro-Gronlier said the library “always welcomed me as a teen,” adding that returning there now “is like me paying it back.”

Teens learning digital technology and creative tools for storytelling and media production at the North Dade Regional Library during the 2025 YOUmedia Miami TeenTober event. (Photo courtesy of the Miami-Dade Public Library System)

Moro-Gronlier said she, Tallman and Blanco see their roles as judges as extending beyond selecting winners.

“We will care and value the work these teens submit and celebrate every piece of poetry that comes our way,” she said.

For Lopez, the contest also reflects the larger purpose of TeenTober and the library’s programming for young people.

“Libraries are very important for teens; they are a safe space for them where they can hang out together,” Lopez said.

Here is the line-up of events:

4 to 5:30 p.m., Friday, Sept.18,  at the Westchester Regional Library, 9445 Coral Way, screening of “Poetry City,” followed by a Q&A with poet Oscar “The Biscayne Poet” Fuentes, and Miami-Dade County Poet Laureate Nicole Tallman. Click here for information.

3 p.m., Saturday, Sept.19, “Sonnet Writing Workshop for Teens,” with Miami-Dade County Poet Laureate Nicole Tallman via Zoom. Click here to register.

3:30 to 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 2 at North Dade Regional Library, 2455 NW 183 St., Miami Gardens, screening of “Poetry City” followed by a poetry workshop with Oscar “The Biscayne Poet” Fuentes. Click here for information.

10:30 to 11:30 a;.m., Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Westchester Regional Library, 9445 Coral Way, “Writing a Sonnet in the Insta Age,” with former Miami-Dade Poet Laureate Caridad Moro-Gronlier. Click here to register.

For poetry contest details, submission guidelines and to enter click here.

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