Calling all young poets: Submit your work to Pembroke Pines MLK writing contest
Got a way with words and a heart for social justice? Attend a Pembroke Pines school or are a student living in the city?
You’ll want to sharpen your pencils for this local writing competition.
The Frank C. Ortis Art Gallery — along with City Hall — is hosting its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Poetry Contest through Jan. 3 to give area students in grades 3 through 12 a chance to reflect on the famous civil rights activist’s legacy.
Submissions are limited to one entry, can include poems, spoken word or creative writing pieces, must be 15 to 300 words in length and should be emailed to thefrank@ppines.com.
Contestants will be judged on the “originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision” in their work and three winners will be selected from the competition’s grade level categories: third-fifth, sixth-eighth, ninth-12th.
Those young writers will be awarded a $50 gift card during the city’s Jan. 20 Martin Luther King Jr. celebraton at the Charles F. Dodge City Center Plaza and will be asked to read their prize-winning pieces at the event.
“We urge our youth to be alert to, engage with, and evaluate what they see around them,” the contest guidelines read on the gallery’s website. “Just like Dr. King’s words ‘I have a dream’ continues to inspire countless people, we believe that your words can inspire the people around you too.”
For inspiration, check out the following optional prompts suggested by the contest holders:
- What does it mean to stand up for what you believe in?
- How does kindness and acceptance shape our community for the better?
- “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
To know what to avoid, read on for submissions the contest holders will not be accepting:
- Work(s) that are offensive in subject matter.
- Work(s) that are not original in nature.
- Work that contains discriminatory, demeaning or disparaging words toward an individual or group of individuals based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, pregnancy, age, disability, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
- Work that contains descriptions of violence or an act(s) of violence or harm to a person or animals.
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 11:26 AM.
