Dorsimbra

Created by Eve Braden, Frieda Dorris and Robert Simonton, Dorsimbra is a set form of three stanzas of four lines each that is arranged as:

~Stanza One: Four lines of Shakespearean sonnet (though the rule says these lines must be in iambic pentameter, for this contest your poem/s need not have that metric line, but the lines should be rhymed abab).

~Stanza Two: Four lines of free verse (neither rhyme nor have a regular rhythm)

~Stanza Three: Four lines of blank verse, where the last line repeats the first line of Stanza One (these lines are unrhymed and must have 10 syllables each and the last line is the same as the first line of the first stanza) 

Tip:
Since the Dorsimbra requires three different sorts of form writing, enjambment can help to achieve fluidity between stanzas, while internal rhymes and near-rhymes can help tie the stanzas together

Click here for submission guidelines and rules.

Submission deadline: April 20, 2026

Results: April 27, 2026