Poetry Competition: October 2020 Rules

The theme for the October 2020 Poetry Competition is: Autumn Vices

  1. All entrants must be aged 60 or over by the closing date for the competition (31st October 2020).
  2. Multiple poem entries are permitted. No poem should individually exceed 40 lines in length (excluding the title). Please indicate the number of lines at the end of the poem.
  3. Poems must be submitted in English and must be your own work (no translations of others’ work and no ‘erasures’ of another’s text).
  4. No poems submitted should have been previously published/broadcast/e-published or posted online in any form. Competition entries are to be completely original.
  5. Entries must be submitted online. Please use the online form and payment process to submit your details. If this does not work, please email them to admin@autumnvoices.co.uk on an appropriate document format such as a Word document or PDF using at least 12pt font. Entries submitted by email should be accompanied by a separate cover sheet with your name, age, address, email address, and title of your entry and payment can be made using the following bank details:

    Name: Autumn Voices
    Branch: The Direct Business
    Sort Code: 80-22-60
    Account number: 19310661
  6. Each poem should be submitted (either online or by email) on a separate document. If submitting by email, multiple poem entries should come where possible via a single email with all relevant files attached or limited to as few emails as possible for clarity. Only one cover sheet is required for several entries by the same person, but it must state the number of poems submitted in total and the titles of each, so that we can be sure we have received all relevant poem files.
  7. Double or single spacing is acceptable. No name or other mark which could identify the author should appear on the poem page.  The competition administrator will log all entrant details in a confidential sheet and anonymise the entries in a numerical system before passing them to the judge to be read impartially.
  8. No Autumn Voices staff members are permitted to enter the competition.
  9. Entries will not be returned electronically so please save a copy of your entry.
  10. No alterations can be made to an entry once submitted.
  11. The judge’s decision is final. The judge cannot enter into correspondence regarding entries with any of the competition entrants.
  12. Closing date for the competition is midnight on 31st October 2020.
  13. The entry fee is £3 per entry for website members/newsletter subscribers to Autumn Voices and £4 per entry for all other entrants.
  14. Failure to comply with the above rules will result in automatic disqualification.
  15. The copyright of each poem remains with the writer.  The winners and runners-up agree, however, by entering the competition, to grant Autumn Voices permission to publish their winning poems on the Autumn Voices website, Autumn Voices social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and in the Autumn Voices monthly newsletters.