Call for Holiday Poems

Holiday Word Selection Writing Project


Student Publish Here! is seeking holiday poems from students around the world. Send your entries to aproeditor-at-gmail-dot-com.

The best poems will be published between Dec. 22 and Jan. 5

By using pre-selected words, students’ imaginations are less restrained by the limits of their vocabulary. The poem is their creation, but they have to work within the boundaries of natural word choice on a given topic.

There is no true randomness to this project. As my friend Ed Pacht has written: "...the very existence of a word is a powerful attack upon randomness. Every word or phrase, even a bit of nonsense like 'slithy tove', is a purposeful ordering of reality to an end."

Using words from the list below, write a poem about Christmas, Chanukah or Epiphany. The poem must be at least 12 lines long. You shouldn’t try to use all the words, unless you want the challenge of trying to do so.

Blessed Babe
torn
candle glow
recite the ancient words
soaring song
greater gifts
stone-hard
gentle hands
a new temple
shining pillar of hope
fragrance
sparkling
cough in the night
delight
puzzle
looping
trembling
bright mist of angels
bread of misery
eternal
Great Star
cast wide
through the ages
murmur of miracles
eight-day dedication
freely give
oil
cheer the heart
beyond the night

For samples of other poems that have been produced using this method go here and here.