We are committed to encouraging the creation of original works of poetry, to building cross-national readership and to exploring the world’s Englishes.
The Montreal International Poetry Prize is a non-profit organization comprised of an Advisory Board, an Editorial Board, a Prize Judge, directors and interns. The editors and prize judge are chosen anew each year. The staff is comprised of poetry lovers with diverse backgrounds who want to get poets together from all over the world in the spirit of fun and competition, to consider the various Englishes of the world and to think of poetry in global terms.
Entry Eligibility
- - All entries must be in English (we accept and encourage all English dialects)
- - It’s OK to use a few non-English words and phrases
- - Poems must be no more than 40 lines long (not including title, a brief epigraph, blank lines, etc.)
- - All entrants must have reached the age of majority at the time of entry.
- - No simultaneous submissions (i.e. don’t submit your poem(s) anywhere else – to preserve anonymity)
- - You do not have to be a published poet to enter!
- - All entries must be unpublished and original works of the author (to preserve anonymity and keep a focus on new work)
- - A poem is considered to be published according to the criteria in Rules.
- - Translations are not eligible. Poetry in translation is an art of its own and would require a different structure to ensure a fair handling.
- - International Montreal Poetry Prize directors, officers, and employees, representatives or agents, including the editors and prize judge, as well as any of their immediate family members or persons with whom they are domiciled, are not eligible to enter.
General Eligibility
Age Restriction. All Entrants shall be of the age of majority in their legal jurisdiction of residency at the time of entry submission.
Subject. Entries may be on any subject.
International Entries. Entries may be submitted from anywhere in the world. Each entry must be submitted with the author’s legal name, and an additional pen name if so desired.
Length. Entries may be any length not exceeding forty (40) lines, excluding blank lines, numbered section titles, brief dedications and epigraphs.
Language. All entries must be primarily in English (the inclusion of a few non-English words or phrases is acceptable).
Simultaneous Submissions. Simultaneous submissions are ineligible for the Montreal Prize.
Publication Defined. Any work that has appeared on the Internet or in print, or has been broadcast in any format is considered published and is therefore ineligible for the Montreal Prize.
Previous Publication. Entries must be unpublished and original works of the Entrant. Each entry must be the work of a single author, not including a company or organization. Each entry must not infringe upon any right or copyright of any person or entity.
Prior Contract. Entries cannot be under contract, including for publication and/or broadcast in any medium. If an entry is placed under contract or made public after it is entered, it is rendered ineligible, and it is the responsibility of the Entrant to inform the Montreal Prize of such ineligibility.
Publication Following Entry. If an entry is published at any time before the selections for the Montreal Prize anthologies have been announced, it will be rendered ineligible. Entries that are selected for publication in the Montreal Prize anthologies are subject to specific publishing rights outlined elsewhere in these rules.
Entry. All entries must be entered exclusively using the entry system on the Montreal Prize website. No other form of entry, by conventional mail or otherwise, shall be considered, and any such entry will not be returned. Entries must not include the Entrant’s name in the text.
No Changes. All entries are final: no changes allowed.
Entry Restrictions. Montreal Prize directors, officers, employees, representatives or agents, including the subeditors, editors and prize judges, as well as any of their immediate family members or persons with whom they are domiciled, are not eligible to enter the Montreal Prize.
Entry Fee. An entry fee is required for each entry. Fees are allocated based on early and final entry deadlines, first or additional entry status, and by the Entrant’s region (i.e. Entrants from developing or developed countries are assigned different fees respectively). Categorization of countries is based upon the UN Human Development Index. The applicable fees are as follows:
Developing World Entrants (i) $15 CDN for a first entry from the developing world submitted by the early entry deadline. (ii) $20 CDN for a first entry from the developing world entered after the early entry deadline. (iii) $10 CDN for any additional entry from the developing world subsequent to the first entry.
Developed World Entrants (i) $20 CDN for a first entry from the developed world submitted by the early entry deadline. (ii) $25 CDN for a first entry from the developed world entered after the early entry deadline. (iii) $15 CDN for any additional entry from the developed world subsequent to the first entry.
Deadlines. The early entry deadline is March 31 2017 at 23:59 ET (Montreal Time). The final entry deadline is May 15 2017 at 23:59 ET.
Right to Extend Deadline. The Montreal International Poetry Prize reserves the right to extend deadlines as it sees fit. In fact, entrants should expect an extended deadline.
Fee Payment. Entries will not be eligible until payment has been received and confirmed by PayPal. If payment is withdrawn, the relevant entry will be rendered ineligible. All entries are final, and entry fees are non-transferable and non-refundable. Cheques, postal orders, money orders, e-transfers, or any payment made without using the online entry system will not be accepted.
WARRANTY. Entrants warrant they have created the entry they are submitting, that they own all rights to it, that all intellectual property, including copyright, in the entry is wholly original to the entrant and remains solely and exclusively with the entrant, and that the entry shall not violate any laws of any country and shall not infringe any other party’s copyright, trademark or other rights. Entrants will indemnify and hold the Montreal Prize and its directors, officers, and employees harmless from and against any and all loss, damage, costs and other expense arising out of claims, whatever their nature, resulting directly or indirectly from breach of this warranty.
Selection Process
Selection by Editors. All entries will be selected and judged anonymously. Each entry will be randomly allocated to an editor, who will select from his or her allocated entries a number of entries for the anthologies.
Judging. The prize judge will select the prize winner, also anonymously, from the entries selected for the Montreal Prize Global Anthology.
Pre-editing. In the case that the Montreal Prize decides that too many entries have been entered for the editors to assess, the entries will be screened by filter-editors selected by the Montreal Prize to reduce the number of entries to a number that the editors have agreed to assess.
Correspondence. No editorial feedback will be provided to Entrants. No correspondence will be entered into with an Entrant regarding the selection process.
The Prize and the Publications
Prize and Publishing. A single cash prize of twenty thousand dollars in Canadian funds ($20,000 CDN) will be awarded to the Entrant whose entry is selected by the prize judge from the approximately 50 poems slated to appear in the Montreal Prize Global Anthology. Approximately fifty (50) poems will be selected for the Montreal Prize Global Anthology and published therein. To be declared a winner and/or to have an entry included in the anthology, Entrants must meet all the present terms and conditions.
Complimentary Copy. Entrants published in the anthology will receive one free copy of the Montreal Prize anthology in which they are published.
Winner Announcement. The winner of the Montreal Prize will be announced by early December of the relevant year.
No Transfer. The prize may not be exchanged or transferred. No substitutions are allowed.
Refusal. Refusal to accept the prize or publication in any one of the Montreal Prize publications releases the Montreal Prize, its directors, and any of its employees, sponsors, members or partners and their affiliates of any obligation towards the Entrant.
Method of Award. The prize winner will be notified by telephone if possible or by email if necessary. The method for delivering the prize to the prize winner will be agreed upon between the Montreal Prize and the prize winner. Payment of any transaction fees, including currency exchange fees, associated with the method for delivering the prize amount to the prize winner, are the responsibility of the prize winner.
Time of Announcement. The prize winner will be named online, on the Montreal Prize website, by early December of the relevant year.
Deadline for Claim. The deadline for claiming the prize will be thirty (30) days from the time of announcement. Should the winner fail to claim the prize, he or she will forfeit the prize and another winner will be selected.
How to Enter
You need an email address to create an account and you will need to pay using PayPal. You can use PayPal with a credit card or a debit card.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://montrealprize.com/