Canterbury Poet of the Year 2014

Terms and Conditions

1. Entry is open to all adults over the age of 18 on 2 October 2014. National and International entries are welcome.  Any number of poems may be submitted, but no alterations may be made to a poem once it has been submitted.
   1. 2.     The closing date for the competition is Friday 20 June 2014. Entries must be posted by 12:00 midnight on that date or delivered to: Adult Poetry Competition, Canterbury Festival Office, 8 Orange Street, Canterbury, Kent CT1 2JA. Entries will not be returned so please keep a copy.
   2. 3.     The entry form and entry fee of £5 must accompany each poem. Payment should be in the form of a cheque made out to “Canterbury Festival Foundation (Friends)”. Only one entry form and one cheque need be sent, even if several poems are submitted. We are unable to accept email entries or online payment.
   3. The poem or poem sequence may be on any subject and in any style, but must not exceed 60 lines in length. Entries are judged anonymously and the poet’s name and address should not appear on the poem itself
   4. Handwritten entries cannot be accepted. Entries should be typed in black ink on A4 paper. Please do not staple entries
   5. Entries must be the poet’s original, unpublished work (including on any website, blog, online forum or broadcast medium) and not accepted for publication before the Awards Evening on2 October 2014. Ownership remains with the poet at all times; The Festival will not assume any share in copyright. The Canterbury Festival is not responsible for any claim of plagiarism, which will be directed to the poet alone.
   6. The poem should be written principally in English; incidental foreign words/phrases and the use of regional variants are permitted.
   7. Poems will be sent anonymously to the judging panel:
      – Derek Sellen ( award winning poet – Gillian Laker (Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year 2013) and Luigi Marchini (Chairman of SaveAs Writers Group)
2. The competition organisers reserve the right to change the judging panel.
   1. The judges’ decision is final.
   2. A longlist of entries will be selected for inclusion in the 2014 Anthology. Longlisted poets will be asked to re-submit the selected poems by e-mail in order to aid publication.
   3. Shortlisted poets will be asked to read their poems at the Awards Evening on 2 October 2014 (or to nominate a reader to do this on their behalf) and the winning poems will be announced on the night.
   4. The poets will receive a free copy of the Anthology at the Awards Evening. The Anthology will be on sale at the Awards Evening and from the Festival offices after the event.
   5. The Awards Evening will take place on Thursday 2 October 2014 commencing at 8.00pm – venue to be announced – and will take the form of a public ticketed event as part of the Canterbury Festival.
   6. The evening will include readings of the shortlisted poets Prizes will be awarded for the Winner, 2^nd and 3^rd places, the “Best Read Poem” and the “People’s Choice” voted for on the night. The Winner will be named ‘Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year 2014’ and will receive a book token for £50.00 plus a half case of wine, 2^nd and 3^rd Prize winners will receive book tokens for £25.00 each, the “Best Read” Prize will be a bottle of sparkling wine and the “People’s Choice” will receive a book token for £20.00.

For further details and an application form click here.