The seventh annual Sidney Lanier Poetry Competition opens this week to all residents of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Previously unpublished poems must be entered by February 23 to be eligible to win up to $500 in prize money for adult poets and up to $100 in the student category.

Keith Flynn, award-winning poet and founder and editor of the Asheville Poetry Review will judge the competition and present the winners at the Lanier Library Poetry Festival on April 25 at Lanier Library in Tryon.

The second annual Lanier Library Poetry Festival will feature workshops and readings on April 24 and 25 as well as the awards presentation, and will welcome Richard Blanco, acclaimed Cuban-American poet and President Obama’s inaugural poet in 2013, as their luncheon’s guest speaker.

For more information about the competition and festival, visit the Lanier Library Poetry Festival Facebook page.

– Submitted by Susan McNabb