Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest’s Celebrate the Sonnet Event
Saturday | July 30 | 11 am
Winona Arts Center | 228 E 5th St. | and online via Zoom
sonnetcontest.org/events
We want to say Thank You again to everyone who submitted sonnets to our contest this year. Each of the winners has been notified and many will read their sonnets at the Celebrate the Sonnet Event.
If you entered and didn’t win a prize, please know how much we appreciate your efforts and dedication to this poetic form. The purpose of this contest is to encourage poets to explore and continue the evolution of the sonnet form. You did not disappoint us! Our mission is particularly front of mind for us this year, the 10th anniversary of being named for Maria W. Faust.
What started as a local contest sponsored by Winona’s First Poet Laureate and the Great River Shakespeare Festival has grown into an international phenomenon with a reach far beyond our community. In 2012, the contest was renamed for Maria W. Faust, whose love of the arts and untimely death inspired her husband to become a poet. Ted Haaland believed the best way he could honor Maria’s memory was to dedicate the contest to her and inspire poets around the world to explore the sonnet form.
For the first year under Ted’s directorship, the 2012 contest received 85 entries from all over the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Fifteen winners were selected, and the sonnets were read by actors from the GRSF at the closing ceremony. The contest has grown dramatically over the past ten years. In 2022, 700 sonnets were received from 42 US states plus Washington, DC and 10 other countries—an increase of 15% over 2021. Entries in the Youth category jumped 50%! Through the contest, poets around the world now know of Winona, Minnesota and our thriving arts community.
Each year, the contest winners are publicly announced at our Closing Event. Out of necessity, this celebration has been presented on Zoom for the past two years. This year it will be a hybrid event. People who would like to attend in person are invited to join us at the Winona Arts Center in Winona, Minnesota. Instructions for logging in will be provided closer to time for those who will join us remotely. Email entries@sonnetcontest.org if you have any questions or if you want to make sure you get the Zoom link.
River Arts Alliance serves as fiscal sponsor of the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest.