Oregon Poetry Association - OPA

With this year's Cascadia Student Poetry Contest wrapped and judging now under way, we want to highlight the three Oregonian poets who are judging our 2026 student contest!

Former Collegiate and Professional football player Marcus Lattimore (he/him) has spent his entire post career as a coach, teacher, and mentor in high school and collegiate athletics. Marcus is a champion of literacy, using it as a vehicle to connect with the students he mentors. His poetry is inspired by his natural interests of theater and sociology where he blends these two disciplines into an immersive experience for the listener. His one mission through his writings is “to make bell hooks proud”. When Marcus is not mentoring, auditioning, or performing spoken word poetry, he spends his time exploring the great wilderness of the northwest with his wife Miranda, and their standard poodle Mocha. Marcus was recently hired as a mentor by POIC + RAHS in Portland, Oregon.

Camille T. McDaniel (she/they) is a Portland, Oregon-based poet, editor, and fiber artist. Her poetry has been published in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Currency, Sundress Publications’ A Body You Talk To: An Anthology of Contemporary Disability, and others. In 2023, she received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets Anthology; and in 2024, she represented Portland Poetry Slam at Bigfoot Poetry Festival. She recently started the press Benniefairy Books. https://www.camilleterrycreative.com/

Brian Stephen Ellis (he/they) is the author of five collections of poetry, and one collection of short fiction, the most recent of which are, Pretty Much the Last Hardcore Kid in This Town (2023) Alien Buddha Press and Against Common Sense (2023) from Limit Zero Publications. In 2014 he was the recipient of the William Stafford War No More Award. They live in Portland, Oregon. https://brianellis.info/

CONCURSO DE POESÍA EN ESPAÑOL 2026
Asociación de Poesía de Oregón
Oregon Poetry Association
(OPA)

Una vez más, la Asociación de Poesía de Oregón abre sus puertas a la comunidad hispana y te invita cordialmente a participar en su Concurso de Poesía en Español.

Hasta el 15 de mayo de 2026.

BASES Y ENTREGA DE POEMAS:
https://opa.submittable.com

Participar en el concurso no tiene costo alguno.

¿Preguntas?
[email protected]

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SPANISH POETRY CONTEST 2026
Oregon Poetry Association
(OPA)

Once again, the Oregon Poetry Association opens its doors to the Hispanic community and cordially invites you to participate in its Spanish Poetry Contest.

Deadline to submit entries: May 15th, 2026.

GUIDELINES AND SUBMISSION:
https://opa.submittable.com

There is no fee to enter the contest.

Questions?
[email protected]

Mid-Valley Poetry Society in National Poetry Month - tomorrow! (4-3-26)

For the second year in a row, the Albany Regional Museum is making poetry central to its First Friday event for April by hosting a reading by Mid-Valley Poetry Society poets.

Jennifer Munro, who was among the featured poets last year, worked with the Museum Educator to organize this year's reading, which will take place in the museum's community room at 5-7 p.m. tomorrow, April 3.

An octet of our poets -- Franca Hernandez, Mike Shuler, Steve Slemenda, Doug Stone, Amalie Rush Hill, Kristen Grainger, David A. Goodrum, and Colette Tennant -- will read from their work. Mike Shuler will introduce the group. If you're able to stop by the Albany Regional Museum tomorrow evening, you'll have a chance to hear a wonderful performance by Mid-Valley poets!

The OPA Youth Contest is now OPEN!!!

An Oregon student can submit their own poem, or a teacher or parent can submit a student's poem for them.
Go to https://opa.submittable.com/submit, then click the “submit” button next to the “2026 Cascadia Youth Poetry Contest.”

Poems accepted March 2 – May 1, 2026, via Submittable.

Division I: Kindergarten – Grade 5
Division II: Grade 6 – Grade 9
Division III: Grade 10 – Grade 12

Contest open to all K-12 students who are residents of the state of Oregon, including public, private, magnet, charter, parochial, incarcerated, and home-school students. There is no entry fee.

Up to ten winners will be selected per division. Each winner will receive a $50 prize and publication in the next issue of Cascadia. Winners will be announced to all entrants in early June, 2026. OPA will host a celebratory reading for the winning poets in late June via Zoom.

Cascadia Youth Poetry Contest Submission Guidelines:

1. Each student may submit only ONE original poem (of their own, individual creative work) on any subject, in any style, form, or language. Bilingual poems are also encouraged. Co-written and collaborative poems will be disqualified.

2. The poem should be typed and uploaded to Submittable by the student, a parent, or their teacher in a .doc or .docx file.

3. The Submittable form requires that each poet submit a certain amount of information with their entry.

4. Submissions with incomplete Submittable forms will be disqualified.

5. The contest deadline is May 1, 2026. Contact Co-Contest Chairs Ty Brack ([email protected]) and/or Julia Gaskill ([email protected]) with questions or difficulties using the Submittable platform.

Find more information on our Submittable page or at cascadiajournal.wordpress.com