Starving poets who fancy themselves the modern-day John Keats have a chance at $100,000 in prizes.

Poetry.com is hosting the International Open Poetry Contest with over 250 prizes amounting up to the generous sum and is looking for Athenian poets, particularly beginners, to enter.

“I think of myself as a very creative person. I have a lot of ideas about the world that I like to share in a creative way,” said Megan Crawley, a senior biology and honors interdisciplinary studies in creative writing double major from Duluth.

“Writing can be a good emotional outlet,” she said. “Everyone should give it a try. It is sometimes surprising what comes out when you set pen to paper-it can really teach you a lot about yourself.”

Sponsored by the International Library of Poetry, Poetry.com was developed in order to give poets a way to express their vision no matter what avant-garde style or lack of professional experience they have.

“I visited Poetry.com once to check it out and I ended up submitting one of my poems,” said Kristen Turner, a sophomore declaring pre-law from Lincolnton. “I was named as a top five finalist in 2004 but ended up placing fourth by the end of the year.”

The rules for the contest are simple: only one 20-lines or less poem is allowed per contestant with no more than 60 characters per line. No foul or violent language is accepted.

“I really love poems that have intricate rhymes and meters instead of free verse,” said Katherine Walters, a freshman English major from Alpharetta, “And I also love writing sonnets and heroic couplets.”

Poetry.com welcomes verse of all kinds. Haikus even have their own distinct competition.

However, true bards probably have more than one poem up their sleeve which makes the decision of choosing only one difficult.

There is no need to stress out, though. Poetry.com has even more contests.

The “Poetry in Motion Contest” grants $100 prizes to daily winners, while the “Poet’s Choice Contest” gives iPod shuffles to winners every day who have the highest ratings.

Veteran poets and amateurs alike are beckoned to www.poetry.com.