Welcome to the North Carolina Poetry Society. If you would like to become a member of the Society and receive the monthly e-newsletter, the thrice-yearly print newsletter, and many other benefits, visit the membership page of this website. Become part of a state-wide community of poets and poetry lovers.
Download our membership brochure or information for students here.
The North Carolina Poetry Society is an inclusive, welcoming community that does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, age, political preference, or any other category that has been used to divide human beings from each other and the natural world. We value diverse voices and varieties of expression.
Read the latest monthly issue of eMuse here.
NCPS News
Winners of 2026 Pinesong Awards for Students and Adults Announced
See the full announcement on our blog here.
Winner of 2025 Brockman-Campbell Announced
The winner of the 2025 Brockman-Campbell Book Award is Mark Cox’s Knowing (Press 53). Our judge this year was poet Martin Mitchell. Honorable mentions were awarded to A.E. Hines’ Adam in the Garden and Claudine R. Moreau’s Demise of Pangaea. To read more, click here.
Registration Now Open for Sam Ragan Awards Day 2026
The NCPS annual Sam Ragan Awards Day is just around the corner. Make plans now to join us at Weymouth Center for Arts & Humanities on May 16th to celebrate the winners of our Pinesong Awards contests. Read the schedule of events and get all the critical details you need about the day on our Events page.
Click here to register for this event.
Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series Spring 2026 Readings
The Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series is pleased to announce the spring series of readings across North Carolina, showcasing the fine work of our Distinguished Poets and the emerging poets they have been mentoring.
The Western region reading will take place on Monday, April 6th, at 12 p.m. in Western Carolina University’s UC Theatre as part of WCU’s annual Literary Festival, featuring and Distinguished Poet Mildred Lee Stockdale.
The Central region reading will take place on Saturday, April 18th, at 3:30 p.m. at Chapel Hill Public Library, featuring Regional Coordinator Daun Daemon and Distinguished Poet Joe Mills.
The Eastern Region reading will be on Thursday, April 23rd at 5 p.m. at the Faulkner Gallery in the Joyner Library at ECU, featuring Distinguished Poet Gideon Young.
We encourage all poets and poetry lovers to attend these events and support the new lyric talent emerging in our midst. All events are free and open to the public.
New Gilbert-Chappell Mentees for 2026
The Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series is delighted to announce the following emerging poet mentees for 2026: In the Eastern Region, Ed Palmer, Cynthia Ward, Kimberly Pelagio-Luis, Sneha Pannala; in the Central Region, Kendal Dixon, Zoë Eaton, Andreevich Tew, Mindy Stahl ; and in the Western Region, Mary Beth Stevens, Patricia Darcy, Charlotte Isenberg, Jackie Knowlton. Congratulations to these emerging poets, and good luck working with the Distinguished Poets in 2026.
Lena Shull Winner Announced
The North Carolina Poetry Society is pleased to announce the 2025 winner of the Lena M. Shull Book Award is Waking Up Alone by Michael Hettich of Black Mountain. Corrie Lynn White served as contest judge. For further information, click here.
Winners of the Jaki Shelton Green Performance Poetry Prize
The winners of the 2025 Jaki Shelton Green Performance Poetry Prize have been announced by judge El’Ja Bowens. Co-sponsored by the North Carolina Literary Review, this prize honors the best performance poem by a writer who fits the NCLR definition of a North Carolina writer: anyone who currently lives in North Carolina, has lived in North Carolina, or uses North Carolina as subject matter. To read the list of winners, click here.
New Distinguished Poet in the Eastern Region
We are delighted to welcome Gideon Young as the new Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet in the Eastern Region, appointed for the 2024-26 term by Regional Coordinator Kelly Jones. To read more on Gideon and his accomplishments, click here and scroll down to his picture and biography.
Brockman-Campbell Winner Announced
Ana Pugatch is pleased to announce the winner of the 2024 Brockman-Campbell Award for the best book of poems published by a North Carolina poet or publisher in the year preceding. This year’s winner is Michael Hettich for The Halo of Bees: New and Selected Poems 1990-2022 (Press 53, 2023). Honorable mention was awarded to Katherine Soniat for Starfish Wash-Up and Kenneth Chamlee for The Best Material for the Artist in the World. To read further, click here.
Discover the New NCPS Bookshelf
Take a look at the newly established North Carolina Poetry Society Bookshelf! This bookshelf features poetry books by our upcoming program speakers, North Carolina Poets Laureate, and NCPS members. We want to support North Carolina authors and independent booksellers. Explore here.
New In Memoriam Page
Thanks to the dedicated pioneering work by Debra Kaufman, drawing on the work of others, we now have a list of NC poets who have passed away on our In Memoriam page. Thanks so much, Debra, for helping us honor our literary ancestors!
