Celebrate the 2025 Sonnet Contest – Closing Event
Saturday, July 26 | 11 am – 12 pm
Open to the Public
Winona County History Center | 160 Johnson St
sonnetcontest.org
The official end to the annual Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest is the announcement of the winners, a fun celebration hosted in person and online. The public is invited to attend on Saturday, July 26th at 11:00 am at the Winona County History Center. (It can also be viewed online on the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest’s Facebook page.) The program will feature this year’s winning sonnets being read either over Zoom by the winning poets or in person by actors from the Great River Shakespeare Festival.
Refreshments from the Blue Heron Coffeehouse will be provided at this free event. The winning sonnets will then be published on the website: sonnetcontest.org.
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. The record breaking 2025 contest received entries from 18 countries and 41 states. Over
730 sonnets were submitted by 281 individuals, including 92 in the youth category. Prizes totaling
$3,200 were awarded in the following categories: Top Four, Regional (4), Youth (4), and Laureates’
Choice (16).
About the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest:
The Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest is an annual event that welcomes entries from around the world to
Winona. The contest honors the memory of Maria W. Faust: a Winona State University graduate in
Communications; a twenty-year resident of Winona; an avid supporter of varied local arts; and a lover of
poetry. Ted Haaland, who passed away in 2024, endowed the contest to live on with the goal of keeping
Maria’s love of poetry alive in our community and beyond.
The contest judges are Winona’s Poets Laureate James Armstrong, Ken McCullough, and Emilio
DeGrazia, and Leslie Schultz of Northfield, MN. Heidi Bryant is the Managing Director and Johanna
Rupprecht provides administrative support. Great River Shakespeare Festival is a partner and River Arts
Alliance acts as the fiscal sponsor.
To learn more about the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest, please visit sonnetcontest.org or email
entries@sonnetcontest.org.
River Arts Alliance serves as fiscal sponsor of the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest.