Battle of the Bards
Introducing Battle of the Bards!
Calling all poets, writers, wordsmiths and lyricists! Southern Shakespeare Company is launching Battle of the Bards, a new writing and performance competition celebrating creativity, language and the power of finding your voice.
Writers of all ages are invited to compete in four categories: Shakespearean Sonnet — Student (Grades K–12), Shakespearean Sonnet — College/Adult, Free Verse/Spoken Word, and Song Lyrics. Whether you love the challenge of rhyme and iambic pentameter or prefer to break the rules with spoken word, poetry or an unforgettable lyric, there’s a place for your voice in the Battle.
Submissions deadline is October 2, 2026. Three finalists from each category will be announced October 9, with first-, second- and third-place winners revealed at the Battle of the Bards celebration at JMI on October 22.
Start writing—and get ready to bring your best words to the Battle!
Submit your entries using the four buttons below.
Battle of the Bards 2026
Submission Guidelines
Southern Shakespeare Company’s Battle of the Bards celebrates the power of language, creativity, and performance. Whether you’re inspired to write a Shakespearean sonnet, craft a powerful spoken word poem, or pen unforgettable song lyrics, we invite you to share your voice.
Competition Categories
1. Shakespearean Sonnet — Student
- Students in Grades K–12
2. Shakespearean Sonnet — College/Adult
- College students and other adults
3. Free Verse / Spoken Word
- Open to all ages
4. Song Lyrics
- Open to all ages
- Lyrics only. Music is not submitted as part of the competition. Winning lyricists may perform their work with music at the Battle of the Bards event.
Shakespearean Sonnet Guidelines
The sonnet is one of the world’s most enduring poetic forms. Originating in medieval Italy and later popularized in English by poets including William Shakespeare, it challenges writers to express powerful ideas within a beautifully structured framework.
Your sonnet should follow the traditional Shakespearean form:
- 14 lines total
- Three quatrains (three stanzas of four lines each)
- One rhyming couplet (two concluding lines that rhyme)
- 10 syllables per line
- Written primarily in iambic pentameter
- Traditional rhyme scheme:
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG
While your sonnet should closely follow this structure, the subject matter is entirely your own. We encourage contemporary themes, fresh perspectives, humor, romance, social commentary, personal reflection—whatever inspires you.
What is Iambic Pentameter?
Shakespeare’s favorite poetic rhythm is called iambic pentameter.
Iambic pentameter is a poetic rhythm made up of five pairs of syllables. Each pair, called an iamb, moves from an unstressed syllable to a stressed syllable:
da-DUM | da-DUM | da-DUM | da-DUM | da-DUM
A line of iambic pentameter usually contains 10 syllables.
For example:
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
shall I | comPARE | thee TO | a SUM | mer’s DAY
The capitalized syllables receive the stronger emphasis, creating the natural, musical rhythm associated with Shakespeare’s verse.
This rhythm gives Shakespeare’s poetry its natural, musical flow.
In the traditional rhyme scheme, ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, lines marked with the same letter rhyme with one another. The first and third lines rhyme, the second and fourth lines rhyme, and the poem concludes with a rhyming couplet.
Let the Form Inspire You
The sonnet’s structure is not a limitation—it is a creative challenge. Working within its rhythm and rhyme often leads poets to discover unexpected language, images, and ideas. We hope you’ll embrace the form and make it your own.
Free Verse / Spoken Word Guidelines
Free Verse and Spoken Word celebrate the freedom of language, voice, and imagination. Unlike a sonnet, these forms are not bound by a specific rhyme scheme or meter. Your work may be lyrical, conversational, dramatic, humorous, deeply personal, or socially engaged.
Guidelines:
- Open to all ages
- Maximum 150 words
- If performed, the piece should run approximately one to one-and-a-half minutes
- Original work only
- Any subject or theme is welcome
- May rhyme or not rhyme
- May be written for the page or with live performance in mind
We encourage bold storytelling, vivid imagery, emotional honesty, and creative use of language.
Song Lyric Guidelines
Songs have always been a powerful way to tell stories, express emotion, and connect with audiences. For this category, judges will evaluate the lyrics themselves, not the musical accompaniment.
Guidelines:
- Open to all ages
- Submit lyrics only—no recordings or sheet music
- Original work only
- Any musical style or genre is welcome
- Lyrics may tell a story, express an emotion, or explore an idea
- Lyrics should be written for a song with an intended performance length of no more than four minutes
The strongest submissions combine memorable language, imagery, rhythm, and emotional impact.
Winning lyricists may be invited to perform their songs with musical accompaniment during the Battle of the Bards celebration at JMI on October 22, 2026. All musical presentations must remain within the four-minute limit.
General Submission Rules
The contest officially opens on August 28, 2026. All entries must be submitted through the official Battle of the Bards entry form by the deadline October 2, 2026.
- All entries must be the contestant’s original work.
- One submission per category per entrant.
- Entries must not have been generated by artificial intelligence.
- Southern Shakespeare Company reserves the right to disqualify submissions that do not meet the category requirements.
- By submitting, entrants grant Southern Shakespeare Company permission to present, publish, and promote their work in connection with the Battle of the Bards, with full credit given to the author.
- All are welcome to enter; preference may be given to submissions from within a 60-mile radius of Tallahassee, FL.
Judging
Entries will be judged on:
- Creativity and originality
- Effective use of language
- Emotional and artistic impact
- Craft and technical execution
- Overall presentation within the chosen form
NOTE: Each lead judge will select three finalists in their category; the full panel will collectively determine final placement.
Three finalists will be selected in each of the four categories, for a total of 12 finalists.
Awards
The Top Three Finalists in each category will be announced on October 9, 2026, for a total of 12 finalists.
First-, Second-, and Third-Place winners in each category will be announced during the Battle of the Bards celebration at JMI on October 22, 2026.
Winners will receive prize information and will be invited to present or perform their work before a live audience.
Questions?
Contact Laura@southernshakes.org
Submissions close Oct. 2!
Meet the Judges
Who better to judge a battle of words than a panel of artists, writers, storytellers, educators and lifelong lovers of language?
Southern Shakespeare Company is proud to introduce the judges for the 2026 Battle of the Bards. Our panel brings together expertise in Shakespeare, poetry, Hip Hop, writing, theatre, music, broadcasting and spoken word. They’ll help select the finalists whose work will take center stage at the Battle of the Bards celebration at JMI on October 22.
Devon Glover
Devon Glover, known internationally as The Sonnet Man, is a Brooklyn-based performer, teaching artist, rapper, poet, director, sound designer and text coach. As a Global Brand Ambassador for the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Devon has built a unique career bridging the worlds of Shakespeare and Hip Hop.
Through his acclaimed adaptations of Shakespeare’s sonnets, he has performed and led educational workshops across four continents, helping thousands of students, educators and audiences experience classical literature through the lens of contemporary culture.
With more than two decades of experience as an artist and educator, Devon has worked with organizations including the Educational Theatre Association, Southern Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Behind Bars and Flocabulary. His work combines a deep love of language with the energy of Hip Hop, demonstrating the enduring relevance of Shakespeare while encouraging people of all ages to find their own voices and tell their own stories.
Devon was also recently awarded an artist residency in Paris at Shakespeare and Company, one of the world’s most celebrated independent bookstores.
Learn more about The Sonnet Man →
Paula Kiger
Paula Kiger is an editor, writer, proofreader and community advocate whose career has spanned communications, publishing, nonprofit work, social media and journalism.
After spending 20 years with the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, Paula transitioned to a career in communications. She has proofread professionally for Ballantine Books, served in multiple roles with SmartBrief, including nonprofit sector editor, and worked as Vice President of Special Projects at social media consultancy Digimentors.
A longtime supporter of the arts, Paula has also reviewed theatre and contributed writing for the Tallahassee Democrat and BroadwayWorld. She brings to Battle of the Bards a keen editorial eye, an appreciation for great storytelling and a love of language in all its forms.
Charlie McCoy
Charlie McCoy is a retired Tallahassee attorney and an enthusiastic supporter of the city’s vibrant music community.
Over the years, Charlie has listened to an extraordinary range of musicians and songwriters and has developed a deep appreciation for the diversity, creativity and quality of Tallahassee’s music scene.
He brings that experience—and a lifelong love of a great song—to the Battle of the Bards judging panel, where he looks forward to discovering the memorable language, storytelling, rhythm and emotion found in this year’s entries.
Tonja Ward, Esq.
Tonja Ward, Esq., is CEO and Co-Founder of the Charlie Ward Champions Ranch, Inc., a faith-based nonprofit developing a 112-acre youth development campus in Tallahassee dedicated to cultivating lifelong champions through sports, leadership, the arts and faith. She also co-leads the Charlie & Tonja Ward Family Foundation with her husband, Charlie Ward.
A New York-licensed attorney and longtime Christian media professional, Tonja spent more than a decade in faith-based broadcasting as an on-air host and digital content leader with stations including KSBJ, Praise FM, NGEN Radio, WOW 90.9 and KACC. Her years behind the microphone, combined with two decades as a worship leader and youth ministry teacher, have given her a natural appreciation for voice, rhythm and storytelling—the same qualities that can make spoken word so powerful.
Tonja holds degrees from Spelman College and the University of Miami School of Law, as well as a master’s degree in Digital Media Management from the University of Southern California.
While living in New York, Tonja served on the board of Youth Works, where one of her favorite initiatives, Taste of Culture, introduced young people to arts and cultural experiences, including Shakespeare in the Park in Central Park. She is delighted to continue encouraging young people to engage with the arts—and Shakespeare—through Battle of the Bards.
Sonnet Submission Guidelines
Sonnets are poetic forms, originating in 11th century Italian Courts, which initially celebrated a chivalrous, literary conception of love.
Five hundred-odd years later, thanks to 14th century Italian humanist Francesco Petrarca, the Sonnet form we recognize as ”Shakespearean,” emerges in England. And for the vast majority of the Bard’s 160 stunning examples, each poem’s form is as follows:
- Fourteen lines total
- Composed of three Quatrains (A Quatrain is a four-line stanza. 3 Quatrains = 12 lines)
- Ending with a Rhyming Couplet (two lines of the same length which rhyme and complete one thought)
- Each of the twelve lines of the three Quatrains are to be exactly ten syllables
- Each of two lines in the Rhyming Couplet are to be exactly ten syllables
- In iambic pentameter.
Provided submissions hew (basically) to the poetic form above, the words are up to each contestant!
Though sonnet structure is centuries old, our intention with this contest is that the form inspires highly contemporary expression in our contestants. Now for a quick bit of Q & A to guide your creative process:
“Iambic pentameter”? Please explain.
Poets love rhythm. And though known principally for his plays, at his core, Shakespeare was a poet. And poets are keenly aware that though imagined content can suggest linguistic forms, it works the other way too: form can suggest content.
A Sonnet, like a Haiku, is a defined structure, necessitating that poets, like Shakespeare (and you!), take imaginative leaps to make all the word choices fit.
Iambic Pentameter then, is the name given to the rhythm that Shakespeare most often used in his works. Similar to a rhythm a musician might use when composing a song, the rhythm of a single ‘iamb’ is that of a heartbeat: “De-Dum.”
Iambic Pentameter then, refers to a line composed of five heartbeats in a row: “De-Dum, De-Dum, De-Dum, De-Dum, De-Dum.” Five ‘iambs,’ ten syllables. Here’s an example:
Within his bending sickle’s compass come
What’s the rhyme scheme for a Sonnet?
Shakespearean sonnets typically follow the rhyme scheme of the form abab cdcd efef gg. To illustrate, here’s the full example, from Sonnet 116:
A Let me not to the marriage of true minds
B Admit impediments. Love is not love
A Which alters when it alteration finds,
B Or bends with the remover to remove.
C O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
D That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
C It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
D Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
E Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
F Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
E Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
F But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
G If this be error and upon me prov’d,
G I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.
Often, at the end of the third quatrain occurs the volta or Poetic Turn, where the mood of the Sonnet shifts, and the poet expresses a turn of thought, in the above case:
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
***
As you compose your sonnets for this competition, please see the Sonnet’s form as a creative catalyst. The tight, poetic structure is intended to compel your deepest word skills and yield images and themes previously unimagined. Fare the well and thank you for your participation!
Video Resources:
Sonnet Insights from SSC’s own Shakespeare Man
Iambic Pentameter insights from
Britain’s Royal Shakespeare Company
Timothy Hughes
Oh how I love the sound of your sweet voice
Oh how I love the sound of your sweet voice,
Your dulcet tones are pleasing to my ear.
But sometimes you barrage me with your noise,
So much that I can’t stand to listen here.
Some music is like angels sent from heav’n,
It soothes me like the purest foreign balm.
Sometimes it stills me like the cream of Dev’n,
And it provides for me a wondrous calm.
I love to play a wide range of music:
Bach preludes to the waltzes of Chopin.
The lovely rhythm although sometimes quick,
Is wonderful to my attention span.
And as you see music is my great love;
I treasure it as if it were a dove.
I wish my writer’s block would go away
I wish my writer’s block would go away
I hope it leaves me here to write alone.
If it does not then I refuse to stay,
It will stay here and I will just go home.
I’ll write a story about something else,
Maybe some horror or just fantasy.
There could be trolls or faeries and more elves.
The faeries float without Earth’s gravity.
I may end up writing a sweet romance,
The story would end up so happily.
The characters might travel an expanse,
The pair would run through fields so rapidly.
But only here I sit with writer’s block,
Leaving me here not to write, but to talk.
A piece of homework every now and then
A piece of homework every now and then
Is healthy for an educated mind
But if I’m doing homework after ten
I don’t think that would all be very fine
I know that often I write very slow
And when it has to do with history
There are so many questions I don’t know
And Latin homework’s always hard for me
My homework always takes up all my day
Imagine I had no work none at all
I think that it would be alright to say
That homework was created from the fall
It always takes a large amount of time
To think of how to make a simple rhyme.
Ode to a White Crayon
An artist who holds me within his fist,
And presses me upon his paper slate
I try to free myself but can’t resist
The gentle pressure of his writing’s weight.
How freely he draws what’s inside his mind;
But nothing marks the movements of our hand.
An artist’s tool is somehow wholly blind,
Perhaps my hue’s too pale to understand?
He picks me up to read my label torn
And sets me down—no artist job to do.
I plead with eyes that ask ‘bout secrets sworn;
White crayons won’t show the splendor that he drew.
I watch him shade and scribble from the shelf,
As Reds and Blues grow duller than myself.
The Latin language is superior
To all the tongues ere spoken on the Earth
English, howe’er, if founded as an err
Would be envied by wine for causing mirth
Compared to Romans’ structured mother tongue
For exceptions, we are exceptional
For breaking fewer rules, good men are hung
Foreign ears bleed when we’re colloquial
In case you think of cases, they are scarce
But worry not! They all end in an “s”
The language will make thee tear out thy hairs
And fill thee to the very brim with stress
And so, my friends, we hope this proves to you
That Latin should have proven “Vero”, true
Sarah Patell
Running Through a Sonnet
Through scorching sun rays of Saturday’s race
Within miles of quiet mossy green grass,
My exhausted legs try to push my place.
My sinewy self feels like melting glass.
Splash! My sneakers enter murky water
While I increase pace, trying not to tire.
Florida’s breezes feel mildly hotter
And the crowd’s cheers calm like a golden lyre.
I pick up my head and feel far stronger.
My stride widens across a muddy pool.
The big race will not last too much longer
And I look forward to practice at school.
The race ends and the team gathers around,
Smiling for a photo on the moist ground.
EDEN WITHOUT US
for Thurston and all children of the Anthropocene Age
Scry the horizon where our city broods—
a smoky wound consuming drought-stripped hills
where no green branches dance the rough winds’ moods.
Is it too late to heal all that is ill?
The world’s ablaze. From space, men signal down
a continental snapshot ringed with fire
yet our compulsive greed leaps every bound
and species after species fuels the pyre.
In olden days, we’d whisper bees this news;
in sympathy, they’d sweeten what they could.
What we do now is argue against truth;
we sheathe the world in concrete, call it good.
When fire melts what we callously hardened,
Earth will drink our ashes and yield gardens
A Sonnet for Ukraine
I wonder why a land so large and vast
would grab and grasp for more, and strike right through
a neighbor near who struggles to stand fast.
A noble nation should decline to do
aggressive acts against a sovereign land.
Incurring indignation, to invite
incensed denunciation, nations stand
in condemnation, for Ukraine unite.
A girl who had to choose which dolls and books
to bring, and which to leave might have been me.
Returning, finding rubble, dust, grand brooks
dried-up, an oft-climbed, newly withered, tree.
Pysanky eggs remind me of Ukraine.
How could I help alleviate its pain?
A Sonnet for Hiroshima and Nagasaki
I felt ashamed when first I learned what we
had done. We dropped atomic bombs and killed
civilians, leveled forests, burned a tree
beside a school, the students’ voices stilled.
I read somewhere that someone said his hair,
so thick and black, became a snowy white,
and he was only seventeen. This dare
to end the war devoured our inner sight.
By desperation blinded, chose we death,
destruction, all-annihilation of
two cities (other countries held their breath)
for heard we just the cry of nation-love.
Now friends, we fold an origami crane.
Forgiven, after causing so much pain.