River of Words FAQ
Great question! The theme of the contest is "watersheds." If you don't know what a watershed is, click here! Basically, a watershed is land that all drains into the same body of water; every plant, animal, person, and object you see in your day-to-day life is part of your watershed.
The goal of River of Words is to connect youth with their watersheds - the environments they live in - through engagement in the art and poetry of place. That means we look for art and poetry that shows a real connection to the world around you. For some folks, that means a lot of green and open space; for others, that means a city environment, with different noises, smells, and sights. We're looking for you to show us what only you see about your world.
For inspiration and examples of past winning and finalist poetry and art, click here.
Children 5-19 years of age, who are not yet in college, may enter the River of Words annual contest. Youth older than 19, but still in high school, are also eligible.
Each year, U.S. entries with the exception of Georgia and Arizona entries must be postmarked (or submitted electronically) by December 1. International entries must be received by mail or electronically by February 1. Entries can be mailed in throughout the year; any entries received after the deadline will be held for the next year's contest.
Arizona entries are due Feburary 1st, 2019. Mail art and physical submissions to:
Living River of Words
Pima County Natural Resources
Parks and Recreations
3500 W. River Road
Tucson, AZ 85741Georgia entries are due February 1st, 2019. Mail art and physical submissions to:
Georgia River of Words
2 Martin Luther King Jr Drive
Suite 1462 E
Atlanta, GA 30334No; the contest is free to enter.
Yes. Students can submit as many poems and/or pieces of artwork as they wish (including poem/art combinations.) However, each entry must have a separate entry form.
Students may enter the contest through their school, environmental club, scout troop, art organization, or any other such group, or they may enter the contest on their own. Group entries should be sent to River of Words together in one envelope or package, rather than individually. All entries must be sent to us with a completed entry form.
River of Words has two separate entry forms: the Group Entry Form and the Individual Entry Form. In addition, group submissions require a completed Facilitator Form.
Group Entry Form
If you completed your ROW contest entry through work with a class, scout troop, nature center, youth organization or any other club, then you are entering as part of a group and should complete a group entry form.
Please note: individual work is considered to be part of a group entry if it was completed through participation in a class assignment or group project.
River of Words will mail group entrants' "Watershed Explorer Certificates" in one package to one address (school or scout leader's home, for example) for distribution.
For entries completed through group activities or under the guidance of a facilitator, please complete the group entry form and accompanying group facilitator form.
Please note: Every group member must complete a separate group entry form (one form for each entry). In addition, for each group, one Facilitator Form must be completed.
Individual Entry Form
If you are entering the contest on your own (i.e., you did not do your work through participation in a class assignment or group project) then you are entering as an individual, and should complete the individual entry form. Individual entries do not require a facilitator form. You will receive your "Watershed Explorer Certificate" at your home address.
Please note: a separate entry form must accompany each entry.
If you have any questions about which entry form to use (group or individual), please contact River of Words.
Written poems should be no longer than 32 lines in length, and should be typed or neatly printed in ink; please see "what should my poetry entry be formatted like?" for additional poetry guidelines. Please staple or glue the poem to the entry form such that each piece faces out.
Guidelines for ASL poems are forthcoming.
Artwork should be no larger than 11"x17" and should not be framed, matted, laminated, or folded. If using charcoal or pastels, please remember to "fix" artwork before sending. Please affix the entry form to the back of the students artwork, using either tape or glue. Do not use staples, as they will injure the artwork.
Remember, each poem or artwork submitted requires a separate entry form.
Good question! Students' entries should have the title of the poem centered at the top of the page. If printed, the entire poem should be printed in black, in a legible font such as Times New Roman, Arial, etc. If handwritten, the poem should be written neatly in a standard color of ink (black, blue, etc.) At the bottom of the poem, please leave only the student's age and grade. Please do not put their name, school, or state information on the poem itself. All that information should only appear on the entry form that is glued to the back of the poem. This facilitates ROW's blind judging process, new as of the 2018 contest. Here's an example of what a submission that follows these formatting rules would look like:
You may download an entry form from the River of Words website (here in English and here in Spanish) or you may request one be sent to you via mail, email, or fax by contacting the River of Words office.
River of Words
Center for Environmental Literacy
Saint Mary's College
PO Box 5060
Moraga, CA 94575 USAPhone: 925-631-4289
Fax: 925-376-8379
Email: rowinfo@stmarys-ca.eduNo. However, by pre-arrangement, submissions from an entire state can be returned to one address (except for work selected to be a Grand Prize or Finalist. In the case of winning artwork, high quality color reproductions will be returned instead.) In states with a ROW State Coordinator, entries are returned to the coordinator. Many states award state-level ROW prizes as well.
No. However, by pre-arrangement, submissions from an entire state can be returned to one address (except for work selected to be a Grand Prize or Finalist. In the case of winning artwork, high quality color reproductions will be returned instead.) In states with a ROW State Coordinator, entries are returned to the coordinator. Many states award state-level ROW prizes as well.
4 Grand Prizes are awarded in Poetry, and 4 Grand Prizes are awarded in Art. The prizes are split by category:
Category I - Primary (Kindergarten - Grade 2)
Category II: Elementary (Grade 3 - Grade 5)
Category III: Intermediate (Grade 6 - Grade 8)
Category IV: Secondary (Grade 9 - Grade 12)ROW awards 1 International Grand Prize to one entry, either art or poetry, in any age category.
Regionally, we have the Shasta Bioregion Award Winner(s), celebrating outstanding entries from Northern California. We also have several prizes aimed at celebrating specific subjects or forms:
- The Monkey's Raincoat Prize, honoring an exemplar haiku poem(s)
- the On Writing award category, which celebrates poems that approach the nature of writing
- the One Square Block prize, celebrating poems that examine the interaction between the manmade and natural world
The number of entries awarded these 3 prizes are up to the discretion of the judges, but is typically 1-3 per prize category.
Finally, our finalists who are published alongside the winners vary each year, depending on the number and quality of submissions.
River of Words/Kalmanovitz School of Education Teacher of the Year: 1 winner. For information about the Teacher of the Year nomination process, which runs year-round, click here.
Yes; everyone who enters will receive a Watershed Explorer Certificate, suitable for framing. Winners' and finalists' art and poetry will be published in our annual River of Words anthology, as well as on our Web page.
Check out our tips for educators and environmental resources pages, also in the Educators section of our website! Our Watershed Explorer Curriculum & associated activities might be helpful as well.
River of Words produces and distributes curriculum materials, communit partnership resources, and children's art and poetry.
River of Words also conducts Educator's Workshops at various locations throughout the year. For upcoming workshops, visit the Educators section here on our website.
ROW is a project of the Center for Environmental Literacy at Saint Mary's College, a non-profit educational organization, incorporated in the State of California. We are supported by grants from foundations and donations from individuals, businesses, and government agencies, like the Environmental Protection Agency. We are affiliated with The Library of Congress Center for the Book, the Library's literacy promotion division.