Moving Words Adult Competition 2026
Moving Words makes poetry a part of daily life for commuters riding Arlington Transit (ART) by replacing advertising placards inside public buses with poems by local poets. Moving Words was launched in 1999 during National Poetry Month and is sponsored by Arlington Transit and the Cultural Affairs Division of Arlington Economic Development.
View the Moving Words Winning Poems Archive.
Call for Submissions
From December 15, 2025 to February 15, 2026, we are looking for poems of 10 lines or less that will be displayed inside ART buses between March and September 2026. This year's competition will be judged by Arlington Poet Laureate Jennifer Kronovet!
Four poems will be selected to be printed on colorful placards and displayed prominently on area buses, enlivening the ride for thousands of commuters. Each winner will also receive a $250 honorarium. Winning poems will be posted and archived on ArlingtonArts.org.
Poets who live within the D.C. Metro transit area (the Northern Virginia counties Arlington, Fairfax and Loudoun, and the cities Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church; the District of Columbia; and the Maryland counties Montgomery and Prince George's) and are over 18 years old are eligible to enter. There is no fee to enter.
About the Judge
Jennifer Kronovet is the author of two poetry collections, The Wug Test (Ecco) and Awayward (BOA Editions), and she is the co-translator of Empty Chairs (Graywolf) by Chinese poet Liu Xia. She teaches ESOL in Arlington Public Schools and serves as the publisher and editor of Circumference Books, a press dedicated to poetry in translation. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, American Poetry Review, The Nation, A Public Space, and elsewhere. Kronovet has lived in Beijing, Berlin, Curaçao, Guangzhou, and several U.S. cities, and she is very happy to now call Arlington home.
Submission Form
Submissions will be accepted through February 15, 2026. Having trouble accessing the form below? Access the form directly.