There's good news from our friends at Coffee-House Poetry in London. Troubadour's annual international poetry prize has this year increased its top prize to £5,000, and that's just one of many prizes. The winners are also invited to read at the famous Troubadour in London's Earl Court. The prize, sponsored by Cegin Productions, is always one to watch. This year the judges are two acclaimed poetry publishers, Amy Wack of Seren and Bloodaxe's Neil Astley, with both judges reading all the poems. The deadline for submissions is 20th October so you have plenty time to send them some of your poems.
Here are the full details and rules. Good luck to those of you who enter!
prizes: 1st £5,000, 2nd £1,000, 3rd £500
plus 20 prizes of £25 each
plus a spring 2015 coffee-house-poetry season-ticket
plus a prize-winners' coffee-house poetry reading
with amy wack & neil astley
on mon 1st dec 2014
…for all prize-winning poets
Submissions, via e-mail or post, by mon 20th oct 2014
Rules
General: Entry implies acceptance of all rules; failure to comply with all rules results in disqualification; submissions accepted by post or e-mail from poets of any nationality, from any country, aged over 18 years; no poet may win more than one prize; judges’ decision is final; no correspondence will be entered into.
Poems: Poems must be in English, must each be no longer than 45 lines, must fit on one side of one A4 or US-Letter-size page, must show title & poem only, must not show poet's name or any other identifying marks on submitted poems (whether submitted by post or as e-mail attachment), must be the original work of the entrant (no translations) and must not have been previously broadcast or published (in print or online); prize-winning poems may be published (in print or online) by Troubadour International Poetry Prize, and may not be published elsewhere for one year after Monday 20th October 2014 without permission; no limit on number of poems submitted; no alterations accepted after submission.
Fees: All entries must be accompanied by submission fees of £5/€6/$8 per poem (Sterling/Euro/US-Dollars only); entries only included when payment received via—
•EITHER
•PayPal: (visit www.coffeehousepoetry.org/prizes/ PayPal account not required, no additional details required, please note your PayPal Receipt No.)
•OR
•Cheque/Money-Order: payable to Coffee-House Poetry
NB: include PayPal name or cheque signatory name in e-mail or postal submission details, only if different from Poet's Name
By Post: No entry form required; two copies required of each poem submitted; please include the following details on a separate page —
Poet's Name & Address, Phone No, E-Mail Address (if available), List of Titles, No. of Poems, Total Fees, & EITHER PayPal Receipt No. OR cheque/money-order/postal-payment enclosed; no staples; no Special Delivery, Recorded Delivery or Registered Post; entries are not returned.
By E-mail: No entry form required; poems must be e-mailed to CoffPoetry@aol.com as attachments (.doc, .docx, .pdf, .rtf only); please include the following details in your e-mail message —
Poet's Name & Address, Phone No, List of Titles, No. of Poems, Total Fees, and EITHER PayPal Receipt No. OR send cheque/money-order/postal-payment by post, no Special Delivery, Recorded Delivery or Registered Post.
Deadline: All postal entries, and any cheque/money-order/postal-payments for e-mail entries, to arrive at Troubadour International Poetry Prize, Coffee-House Poetry, PO Box 16210, LONDON W4 1ZP postmarked on or before Mon 20th Oct 2014. Prize-winners only will be contacted individually by Mon 24th Nov 2014. Prize-giving will take place on Mon 1st Dec 2014 at Coffee-House Poetry at the Troubadour in Earls Court, London.
Acknowledgement/Results: E-mail entries acknowledged within 14 days of receipt of both entry & payment; postal entrants may include stamped, addressed postcard or envelope marked Acknowledgement &/or stamped, addressed envelope marked Results; results will be posted on website (& mailed to all postal entrants who included a Results envelope) after announcement of results on Mon 1st Dec 2014; no correspondence will be entered into.
The Judges:
Neil Astley has been editor of Bloodaxe Books since founding the press after graduating from Newcastle University in 1978. He received an Eric Gregory Award in 1982, & an honorary D.Litt from Newcastle University in 1995. He has published two poetry collections & two novels, The End of My Tether & The Sheep Who Changed the World. He has edited the popular & highly acclaimed poetry anthologies Staying Alive (2002), Being Alive (2004) & Being Human (2011) & has published over 300 books by 1000 writers from diverse poetic backgrounds, traditions & generations over the past 35 years, radically changing the image of UK poetry publishing.
Amy Wack was born in Florida, USA, raised in California, has a BA in Eng.Lit. from San Diego State University & MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University, NYC. After working as Poetry Wales reviews editor, she was appointed Seren Books poetry editor in 1992: among many prize-winning titles produced under her editorship are John Haynes' Letter to Patience, (Costa Poetry Award) & Kathryn Simmonds' Sunday at the Skin Launderette (Forward Best First Collection). She has edited several anthologies including Oxygen: New Poets from Wales & Burning the Bracken, as well as co-editing Women's Work: Modern Women Poets Writing in English.
(for 2007-2013 Troubadour prizewinners & prizewinning poems, see http://www.coffeehousepoetry.org/poems/ )
Best wishes,
Eleanor
Eleanor Livingstone
Festival Director
www.stanzapoetry.org
list@stanzapoetry.org
