The Battleship New Jersey Memorial and Museum is sponsoring a poetry contest to help celebrate National Poetry Month. The contest's topic is freedom.

For inspiration, you can visit the battleship or a replica of the infamous Amistad slave ship, which will be docked at Wiggins Park Marina on the Camden Waterfront from April 11 to 20.

One first-place winner will be picked in the following age divisions: grades 4-5, grades 6-7, grades 8-9, grades 10-12, and adult. Poems should be up to 12 lines for grades 4-5 and 6-7, and up to 24 lines for all other categories.

Winners will receive a prize from the battleship gift shop. Entries may be mailed to: Poetry Contest, 62 Battleship Place, Camden 08103. Or they can be faxed to ( 856) 966-1883. The deadline is April 15.

The winning poems will be published in the Courier- Post on April 29, at the end of National Poetry Month.

The battleship is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for children under 12 and for seniors and veterans.

The Amistad will be open 2 to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. weekends. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

Employees of the Courier-Post, the Home Port Alliance and the battleship, and their immediate families are not eligible to win.

Call Cathy Karmilowicz at (856) 642-6226 for more information about the poetry contest. Call (856) 757-9400 or visit www.camdenwaterfront.com for more information about ship tours.