Poems-on-a-Beermat Competition

BOA Arts Festival Poetry Competition 2014 v3

Entries are invited for an Open Poetry Competition on the theme of Light
– closing date July 30th 2014.

There will be a prize of £200 for the best poem submitted, with discretionary second and third place awards of £50 and £25 if the quality of entries merits them.

Ten short-listed poems will be printed on to beermats and placed in pubs in Bradford on Avon and surrounding villages for the duration of the 2014 Bradford on Avon Arts Festival (September 1st-20th).

Poems must therefore be short – there is a strict limit of 12 lines.
All shortlisted poets will receive 25 beermats printed with their own poem and name.
The adjudicator of the competition will be poet Martin Malone, who will announce the winners at a special awards night at The Swan, Bradford on Avon on Wednesday September 3rd 2014, itself part of the Festival.

All shortlisted poets will be invited to read their poems at this event.

The evening will also feature a reading of his own work by Martin Malone.

Please send your entries together with your entry fee (details below) and full contact details to:
Dawn Gorman, ABR House, Prospect Place, Trowbridge, Wiltshire BA14 8QA
by the closing date of July 30th 2014.
For more details about Bradford on Avon Arts Festival, go to http://www.BoaArtsFestival.com

Judge: Martin Malone
Born in 1963 in West Hartlepool, Martin Malone now lives in Warwickshire. A winner of the 2011 Straid Poetry Award and the 2012 Mirehouse Prize, his first full collection, The Waiting Hillside, is published by Templar Poetry. Currently studying for a PhD in poetry at Sheffield University, he edits The Interpreter’s House poetry journal.

Competition Rules
1. The competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over.
2. Poems must be original, unpublished, not currently submitted elsewhere, and must not have won any other prize.
3. Poems must be on the theme of Light. They must not exceed 12 lines. Poems must be in English, and should be typed.
4. Entries must not identify the author in any way. Poems bearing the author’s name or any other identifying information will be disqualified.
5. No entry form is required, but on a separate sheet of paper, please give your name, address, email address and both day and evening telephone numbers, along with the title(s) of the poems submitted.
6. Receipt of your entry to the competition will be acknowledged only if you supply a stamped, self-addressed envelope marked ‘Receipt’, enclosed with your entry.
7. If you would like to be sent a list of winners (names and poem titles), please also enclose a separate, stamped, self-addressed envelope marked ‘winners’. This information will not be sent to you until after the announcement of the winners on Wednesday September 3rd 2014.
8. Do not send your only copy of your work, as we cannot return poems after the competition, nor can be held responsible for the loss of your poems. No amendments can be made to poems once submitted.
9. The entry fee (Sterling only) is £4 per poem or £10 for three poems. All subsequent poems £3 each. Please make cheques payable to The Bradford on Avon Arts Festival and write your name and address on the back. Overseas entrants may pay using Paypal. Please email Dawn Gorman at dawngorman27@virginmedia.com for details.
10. The closing date is July 30th 2014, and no entries will be accepted after this date. Shortlisted entrants will be notified by telephone by August 18th 2014.
11. Copyright remains with the authors, but the organisers reserve the right to publish the winning poems and a selection from the shortlist in print form or online.
12. All shortlisted poets will be invited to read their poems at a special event at The Swan in Bradford on Avon on Wednesday September 3rd 2014. This event is part of the Bradford on Avon Arts Festival. The results of the competition will be announced at this event, and subsequently on the website and in the press.
13. Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these conditions of entry on submission of their poems.
14. The decision of the adjudicator shall be final and binding upon the participants entering this competition.