Poems go through 3 rounds of judging: an elimination round, where we eliminate any poems that don’t meet the entry criteria or that are well outside the achievement of the average poem in the submission group, a refinement round, where poems are further whittled and selected for beauty and importance, and a final placement round, in which poems are sorted into places and honorable mentions.

Our judging committee consists of diverse writers and scholars, as well as Tiv’s family and friends. We look for innovative, poignant, beautiful use of language, poems that address important social themes and convictions, and anything that clarifies a moment or an emotion, the way great poems can. Finally, we use our knowledge of Tiv and his life to choose poems that he would have been proud to inspire.