About
The Massachusetts Poetry Olimpics (MAPO, est 2025) is an annual, statewide competition of poetic importance covering Eastern Massachusetts, Central Massachusetts, and Western Massachusetts.
Massachusetts houses a Commonwealth of poetry. As such, poets will compete in individual and team competitions in 4 events: Elegy May, Villanelle June, Sonnet July, and Free Verse August. Each poet is encouraged to submit to every category.
In addition to individual awards, awards will be given to regional teams based on cumulative points.
All stages of the competition will be broadcast by regional studios. The finale and award ceremony will be broadcast live in September 2026.
MEET THE MAPO TEAM
MAPO is organized by a group of individuals who are passionate about poetry and uplifting and poetic voices in Massachusetts.
LD Green serves as the Head Organizer, Chia serves as the Eastern MA Representative, Mimi serves as the Central MA Representative, and Paul Richmond serves as the Western MA Representative.
LD Green
[MAPO Founder and Head Organizer]
LD Green is the Founder of MAPO. He lives in Springfield, MA. LD Green's passions are performance poetry and raising awareness and creating resources for our state’s homeless veteran population. His hope with MAPO is to unite and celebrate the importance of poetry and its eclectic communities in our Commonwealth.
Email: [email protected]
Chia
[MAPO Eastern MA Representative]
Chia is the MAPO Eastern MA Representative, located near Boston. She was last year's winner of the elegy category with her piece Ringing in The New Year with Little Beliefs. Aside from writing, Chia is passionate about social impact, community organizing, and most importantly: snowboarding (despite not being very good at it). You can find her independent poetry publishing project, the Trident Poetry Collective (TPC, a MAPO collaborator) on Instagram @tridentpoetrycollective
Email: [email protected]
Mimi
[MAPO Central MA Representative]
Mimi is a lifelong lover of poetry, and is drawn to the way words can hold emotion, memory, and truth all at once. While she is not widely known as a poet, she feels connections to the art itself - from voices of Langston Hughes, Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickenson, and Edgar Allen Poe, to modern writers such as Pierre Jeanty and R.H. Sin. Mimi's journey into this role began through illustrations, bringing poetry to life visually. Beyond that, she expresses her creativity through culinary arts: baking, especially, crafting desserts that bring joy and comfort. She is grateful to a part of this space that welcomes every voice, whether you are just beginning or find your way back to poetry.
Email: [email protected]
Paul Richmond
[MAPO Western MA Representative]
Paul Richmond is the MAPO Western MA representative. He was awarded Beat Poet Laureate by the National Beat Poetry Foundation for MA (2017-2019), USA (2019-2020), & Lifetime (2022). Paul performs nationally and internationally, both solo and with “Do It Now.” He has nine books. Visit www.humanerrorpublishing.com for more information.
Email: [email protected]