NEW ORLEANS – 826 New Orleans is accepting poems from young people across the city to participate in Pizza Poetry. On April 30, hot pizza comes with a fresh poem by New Orleans youth ages 6-18 in celebration of the annual Pizza Poetry Project.
Established by youth writing nonprofit 826 New Orleans in 2014, The Pizza Poetry Project is an annual celebration of National Poetry Month and the power of youth voice. This collection of pizza poems commemorates seven and a half years of spreading youth-written poetry throughout New Orleans—through the unifying force of pizza.
Each Pizza Poetry Day, 826 New Orleans publishes poems of all kinds on pizza boxes from some of the best local pizza joints in town for delivery and pick up. 826 New Orleans’ Young Writer’s Council selects poems across different age groups to be our Pizza Poet Laureates. We accept poem submissions from young writers ages 6-18. The top poems from grade bands 1st-3rd, 4th-8th, and 9th-12th will be awarded Pizza Poet Laureates and will receive a gift certificate and special printing of their poetry. We accept pieces from all young poets, however, only OPSB students are eligible to be named as Pizza Poet Laureates.
To support the writing of poetry, 826 New Orleans is offering free, virtual in-school poetry workshops. Teachers can sign up to bring a poet to their classrooms through Zoom or Google Hangouts. Poetry activities are also available in the New Orleans Public Library take and make kits. Lastly, 826 New Orleans has several poetry lessons available on YouTube. 826 New Orleans accepts online submissions via pizzapoetry@826neworleans.org. Please review the submission guidelines and Pizza Poetry Permission Form prior to submitting your poem.
826 New Orleans is thrilled to collaborate with a fantastic group of pizza partners: Homegrown Pizza, Pizza Delicious, Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza, and Reginelli’s. In addition to publishing youth poetry on each pizza box, our partners generously donate 10-20% of their daily profits on Pizza Poetry Day to 826 New Orleans’s programs. Order a pizza for delivery or pickup on April 30th from one of our pizza partners, receive a poem, and join the citywide celebration of the power of youth voice.
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