CALL FOR POETRY: 

THE MAYOR’S POETRY PROGRAM AT BOSTON CITY HALL

Introduction to MOAC

The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture’s (MOAC) believes artists have a crucial role in creating a thriving, healthy community for all. The arts are intrinsically valuable, and provoke emotion, connection, and action.

Overview of the Mayor’s Poetry Program and Prompt

Along with its rich literary history, Boston is also home to many talented contemporary writers. In honor of the diverse and creative village we call Boston, each year MOAC displays selected poems on the walls of City Hall, as well as makes them available online. Poets who live and/or work in Boston are invited to send in work that embraces the city's creativity, innovation, and vibrant cultural landscape.

This Year’s Theme: Experimental Poetry 

The theme for this year, selected by previous Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola, will be “experimental poetry”. 

Here is Porsha's prompt:

We are interested in poems that create new structures for sharing stories or poems that shift our understanding of the world as we know it. This can be visual poems, poems that break traditional form, poems that invent a new form, or poems that subvert expectations via content or craft. The current socio-political atmosphere is stretched thin and in turn, we ask you to stretch the imagination around the possibility of a poem: what a poem can be, what a poem can do, and what a poem can become.

Take risks. Defy the literary tradition. Reinvent a narrative anew.

Important Dates

March 21: Application Opens 

April 7: Application Closes @5pm 

April 7 - 14: Selection Process

April 16: All applicants notified 

Selection Process

• Our previous poet laureate, Porsha Olayiwola, will select up to 15 poems based on strength of content and style.
• All applicants will be informed on the status of their application via submittable by April 16, 2025. 

Selected Poets

• The selected poets will have their poems displayed in City Hall and will be invited to participate in a public reading on April 25, 2025 at 2 pm at the City Hall Speaker’s Corner, just in front of City Hall main entrance (if inclement weather, we will move to Mezzanine area just inside and up the stairs of main entrance).
• The selected poets will receive $150 as an honorarium for this usage of their poem. In order to receive payment, selected poets will be required to register as a City of Boston vendor and invoice us.)

Application Process

Applications are being accepted via Submittable here. 

Applicants are asked to submit the following via submittable:

• 1-3 poems (Due to display limitations, each submitted poem must appear on a single page).
• A brief bio.
• Meet eligibility requirements of either living or working in Boston 

While digital entries are preferred and strongly encouraged, printed entries are also welcome and will be given equal consideration. All entries must be received by April 7, 2025 at 6 pm. To submit a printed application: 

• Go here for printed application.
• Mail to: The Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture    Attn: Tom Johnston Boston City Hall, Room 802,   1 City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA 02201
• All entries must be submitted in a conventional font (such as Times New Roman) at 12-point size.
• Photocopied poems from publications are acceptable, however, name and/or address cannot be included. Do not staple documents.
• If return of materials is desired, enclose a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage.
• Faxed or emailed applications will NOT be accepted.

Contact for Questions and/or Application Accommodations 

Interpretation, translation, and disability accommodation services are available to you at no cost. 

For further information, or if you need accommodations or assistance with your application, please contact Tom Johnston in the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture at 617-635-1238 or thomas.johnston@boston.gov