Contest Rules:

1. Poets must be a current resident of Cambridge, MA.

2. Cambridge residents of ANY age are eligible.  

3. Poets may submit ONE poem of their own work. Text and subject matter must be appropriate for the general public.

4. Poems must be in English.

5. Poems can be previously published or unpublished, as long as it is original work by the entrant.

6. Poems may be a maximum of 10 lines in length with up to 40 characters per line including spaces. Poems may be no more than 250 characters total overall including titles, spaces and punctuation. (This means you will not be able to use all 10 lines of 40 characters each, but you could have 10 lines of 20 characters each for example.)

7. By submitting this poem, you are attesting that this is an original work of poetry and that you are its rightful author or authorized representative. Note that we will check all poems for plagiarism.

8. By submitting this poem, you give permission to the City of Cambridge, MA and anyone acting for or through them to imprint your poem onto the sidewalk in Cambridge, MA and to use and reprint the poem on the City of Cambridge website, in other marketing materials, and in projects related to the Sidewalk Poetry Program.

9. Previous contest winners are ineligible to apply for five years after being selected.

10. Each poem will be printed at least once in the City Sidewalks. The City is constantly accessing the condition of the poems and refreshes them when possible.

11.The deadline to submit a poem is Monday, March 14, 2022, at 5pm. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Please contact us with any questions at 617-349-4388 or sidewalkpoetry@cambridgema.gov