The Annual John Gardiner Poetry Contest is organized by Laguna Beach Library and funded by the Friends of the Library as well as individual sponsors.

A new theme and submission guidelines are chosen for the Contest every year. Participants submit their poems April 1-30. The submitted poems are processed by Library Staff and are submitted to Judges as texts free of any personal information to ensure objectivity of the selection of winners. 

Prizes up to $150 are awarded in five age categories.

The winners are invited to the Reading of Winning Poems at Laguna Beach Library on the 1st Saturday in June.

All the wining poems are published in a Booklet. Free copies of the Booklet are available at the Library while supplies last.

Please enjoy the winning poems of the 21^st-28^th Annual Contests.