Arkansas Scottish Festival IS coming

october 17-19, 2025!

 Lyon College is proud to host its annual Celtic Poetry Contest at the Arkansas Scottish Festival. There is no fee to enter. Poems may be any style and length, but they must have a Celtic theme (Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Briton, Galician, etc.) or traditional form. Contestants may submit no more than 2 poems, and each must be submitted separately. The winning poem will be read (by the author if possible) at a scheduled reading during the festival. The author does not have to attend the festival to win.

First Prize - $100 • Second Prize - $50 • Third Prize - $25

Please submit your poem as a Microsoft Word document and email it to pamela.palermo@lyon.edu. Include the words POETRY ENTRY in the subject line. Please do NOT include your name or other identifying information in the body of the WORD document. Entries must be received by October 3rd, 2025.

2025 Celtic poetry contest is now open!

congratulations to our 2024 celtic poetry winners!

1st place - Candace Benton - “The Seduction of Eilidh”

2nd place - Ballynoe, Ireland: “The Seasons"

3rd place - Venessa Lee - Estevez - “Lockerbie poem”