We thank all 72 poets, NAMI NJ friends and families for getting those amazing poems to us for the 2024 NAMI NJ Dara Axelrod Expressive Arts Mental Health Poetry Contest! This year's theme is: What will you be doing all while the world is screaming?

We received many worthy entries. After rounds of careful reading, the Top Ten Poems have been selected by our Contest Judges. The judging criteria consisted of:

• Using the theme of mental health
• The way the subject matter was handled
• Originality
• Style

NAMI NJ members and friends are now called on to vote online and help us pick the Top Three Poems. Support our poets and cast your vote by Wednesday, May 15, 2024. 

All poems entered into the contest will be showcased on NAMI NJ's Poetry Corner webpage in the coming months. Thank you for your participation. Enjoy the poems!

Announcing Top Ten Poems

(Listed in alphabetical order by poem name;

author names are temporarily omitted for fair voting.)

After the World Burned

Hope is Between Two Sides

I’d Search for Peace

Lullaby –An Elixir, a Tourniquet, a Panacea

Never Forget

No Longer Distant

Rewriting the Script

Sotto Voce

The World is Ending and I am Holding Your Hand

WEIGHT

Anyone can vote! Each individual can cast only one vote.

Cast your vote by Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 11:59 pm EST.

Download a PDF of this email to share!