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September Challenge: Tritina Poetry Contest

Enter Contest

Tritina poetry form only.
Poetry Contest Deadline: Tuesday, October 6, 2026
16 poems of the maximum 35 allowed have been entered.
Sponsored by: Andrea Dietrich | Send Soup Mail

Contest Description

What to Submit?

A Tritina (title to be the person, place or thing you choose to write about)

Challenge: to write a Tritina on any favorite person, place or thing. That gives you endless possibilities!

The criteria are creativity, readability and use of decent writing skills. To score high with me, I suggest following proper capitalization and punctuation rules. And of course, I will do checks for AI use. Please write your OWN original poem.

Have you heard of Tritina? This 10-line form was invented by poet and teacher Marie Ponsot. Because it acts like a miniature version of the 39-line Sestina, it is described as “the square root of the Sestina.” A Tritina repeats three end-words (not rhymed). Although the form is not metrical, I will probably enjoy more the ones that use rhythm. Also, I will not care if you think up key words that happen to rhyme. Follow the pattern given below and you end up with three tercets and a final line(envoi) that ties everything up.

The important thing is to come up with three key words that will be repeated in a different order in each tercet. The final line will use the same order of words as tercet #1.  Here is an explanation of the form and how to do it:

AI Overview

tritina is a short, 10-line poetic form based on the cyclical repetition of three end-words rather than on rhyme. [1, 2]

Structure and Rules

  • Length: Exactly 10 lines total, broken into three tercets (three-line stanzas) and a single concluding line called an envoi. [1]

  • End-Word Pattern: You pick three end-words for the first stanza (labeled 1, 2, and 3). These words rotate through the subsequent stanzas in a strict mathematical sequence:

    • Stanza 1 (Tercet): Line ends with 1, 2, 3

    • Stanza 2 (Tercet): Line ends with 3, 1, 2

    • Stanza 3 (Tercet): Line ends with 2, 3, 1

    • Envoi (Final Line): Contains all three words in their original order (1, 2, 3). [1, 2]

  • Meter and Rhyme: There is no required rhyme scheme or syllable count, though keeping a consistent rhythm makes the repetition sound more musical. [1, 2]

 

This is a link that teaches how to create a Tritina.  http://https://yeahwrite.me/writing-help-tritina/

My example of a Tritina:

LYDIA MARIE

Our daughter made a wish; it was her third,
and Lydia Marie, a brand new child,
then came along with charming cheerful smiles.

In not too long that cutie gave us smiles -
This small gift who arrived upon the third
day after Christmas, a December child.

This precious last-born of our own dear child
keeps growing, showing more and more sweet smiles.
A wish come true is she, our daughter’s third.

Our daughter’s third wish is a child with smiles for miles.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

 

 

Preparing Your Entry

Submit one copy of your poem online. Format your poem. Please make your entry easy to read — no illustrations or fancy fonts. 

English Language

Poems should be in English. Poems translated from other languages are not eligible, unless you wrote both the original poem and the translation.

A Note to Poetry Contestants

You are welcome to enter this contest, whether or not you won a prize in one of my previous contests.


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