Calling all creatives, writers, and aspiring poets from the Old Pueblo and beyond! The Downtown Tucson Partnership together with the University of Arizona Poetry Center are proud to announce the 1st annual Old Pueblo Poems literary competition.  

Twenty winning haiku poems will be chosen to be featured along Congress Street in Downtown Tucson. Haiku entries will be judged by Tucson’s Poet Laureate, TC Tolbert. All winners will receive a $25 Downtown Gift Card and have their work featured on public signage Downtown, online and in the media. These decorative signs will provide visual and cultural interest throughout the Spring season, beginning March 21st. The inaugural theme of the competition is “Life in the City” and poets are encouraged to submit haiku reflecting this theme.  

A Haiku is a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five. Learn more about Haiku here.

Interested poets may enter here and submissions will be accepted through February 25th. Winners will be announced on Downtown Tucson Partnership’s social media and by email to all entrants. Only one winning entry per person.