Nicole Tallman. 2026 Miami-Dade Poet Laureate Miami-Dade County teenagers who love poetry and even those who are unsure about that form of writing, will have the opportunity to submit their sonnets to the Poetry Contest for Teens which is open to teens ages 13-18. The contest is being sponsored by M iami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s office and the Miami-Dade Library System. The library announcement declares “in celebration of America’s 150 anniversary and Teentober, teens ages 13-18 are invited to share their creativity by writing a sonnet about freedom inspired by Miami, the United States, or both.” The contest begins Sept. 14 – Oct. 17. Winners will be announced Nov. 14. “We are really trying to meet teens where they are at and get them excited about poetry,” says Miami-Dade’s third Poet Laureate, Nicole Tallman, also senior advisor to the mayor. “Fourteen lines is a good place to start.” Tallman says the contest is designed to encourage teens to write poetry. “The library reached out to me and asked if I would be willing to judge a contest for teens,” she says. “I’m interested in making poetry more accessible to people of all ages.” She says poetry can be intimidating to people and she’s trying to make it less intimidating. “I remember being taught Shakespeare and Emily Dickenson,” she says. “I think it’s important to be exposed to living poets.” She wants people – especially teens – to understand you don’t need to have a superior education or be extremely sophisticated to love and understand poetry. Tallman says the teens can write a non-traditional sonnet. “A sonnet is a 14-line poem that’s a little song,” she says. “Poetry is a form of music in a certain way. I think it’s a beautiful thing. We’re trying to explore the connections between poetry and music.” To help teens learn more about the art form and ease their way into entering the contest, there will be workshops on writing sonnets, one in person and one virtual. On September 18, there will also be a screening of Poetry City, a documentary of Miami’s poetry scene followed by a Q A with the documentary’s featured poet, Oscar Fuentes known as the Biscayne Poet and Tallman. Tallman will teach her Sonnet Workshop virtually on September 19 from 3-4 p.m. “We are going to read some sonnets together,” Tallman says. “Then do prompts giving some exposure to what a sonnet is.” She says anyone can write poetry. “I just need you to write 14 lines,” she says. “We can figure out how to edit it from there. I feel like anybody can write 14 lines. If you can’t, then you can collaborate.” On Friday, Oct. 2, from 3:30 to 5 pm at the North Dade Regional Library, Fuentes will teach a Community Poetry Workshop for Teens. And then on Saturday, October 3, from 10:30-11:30 there will be the Sonnet Writing Workshop in the Insta Age – a Poetry Workshop for Teens taught by the 2025 Poet Laureate Caridad Moro-Gronlier at the Westchester Regional Library, 9445 Coral Way, Miami, FL 33165. Tallman will be joined by the two previous Miami-Dade Poet Laureates in judging the sonnets. They are Richard Blanco (2024-2025), who wrote One Today, the poem he wrote and delivered for Barack Obama’s second inauguration and Moro-Gronlier, the Associate Editor for SWWIM Every Day, an online poetry journal for women poets. She’s also the The Betsy’s Writer’s Room Poetry-Curator-At- Large. For information on the contest and the rules go to Poetry Contest for Teens – Miami-Dade Public Library System. 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