Terms and Conditions
Find below the full terms and conditions for the 2019 Women's Poetry Competitions. Please visit our FAQs for further clarification.
WOMEN'S POETRY COMPETITION
Your Poems
► Poems may be in any style, of any length, on any subject. Sequences of differently-titled poems must be entered as separate poems. A poem that is structured in several parts may be entered as one poem.
► Type each poem, single-spaced, on A4 pages. If a poem is longer than one page, please number the pages. Write the title on the same sheet as the poem.
► Your poems will be judged anonymously, so do not write your name on the same sheet as your poems.
► If entering by post, please print out and complete the submission
form available here.
► No alterations may be made to a poem once it has been submitted.
► You may enter any number of poems, but may only win one prize (or two, in the case of the Unpublished Prize). This is to allow the maximum number of entrants to receive recognition.
► Your poems will not be returned, so do keep a copy.
► Winners will be contacted in November 2019 and winning poems will be published in the Dec/Jan/Feb 2019/20 issue of Mslexia and in the PBS Spring Bulletin.
► Copyright of each poem remains with the author, but Mslexia and PBS have the unrestricted right to publish the winning poems in their magazines and on their websites, plus unrestricted rights to use the winning poems and any related material for PR purposes.
Eligibility
► Poems should be in English (or English dialect) and should not have been published or accepted for publication elsewhere.
► Simultaneous submissions are allowed provided the poet withdraws her work from consideration in other competitions upon notification of success in this competition, and vice versa.
► Poems must not have been previously published or accepted for publication in print or online by a third party, or included in self-published works which are
commercially available.
► Poems should not be a translation of another author’s work.
► We will accept poems from women of any nationality from any country.
► You do not have to subscribe to Mslexia or be a PBS member to
be eligible, but you do have to be a woman. Entries are welcomed from women in the transgender community.
► Employees of Mslexia and PBS are not eligible.
How to Enter
► Entries open on 1 June 2019 and close at 5pm GMT 16 September 2019
► You may submit your poem(s) online here, by calling us on +44 (0)191 230 8100, or by completing a postal form (available to download here) and post to Poetry Book Society, Milburn House, Dean Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1LF, UK
► The entry fee of £10 allows you to enter up to three poems. You may enter as many times as you like, provided each set of poems is accompanied by the £10 entry fee.
► Entry fees must be in pounds sterling. For overseas entries, international online card payments are accepted.
► You can pay online via Submittable, by UK cheque (payable to Poetry Book Society), by debit/credit card or by phone.
► If entering online, be sure to follow the instructions on the website carefully.
► Each poem submitted online should be attached as a separate Word or PDF document. Posted poems should be on separate sheets.
Prize Terms
► 1st Prize: £2,000 plus optional mentoring and a writing retreat kindly supported by Cove Park.
► 2nd Prize: £400, 3rd Prize: £250, Unpublished Prize: £250, 17 finalists win £25 each.
► The unpublished prize can be awarded in addition to a finalist prize but not 1st, 2nd or 3rd place.
► Acceptance of any element of the prize is optional. If the winner is unable to Attend the retreat or mentoring, these will be offered to other winners.
► The writing retreat is at Cove Park, Scotland’s International Artist Residency centre, at a time to be agreed between Cove Park and the competition winner. rhe retreat is accommodation only.
► The mentoring is an afternoon with PBS Selector Sandeep Parmar, on a date to be agreed between the mentor and the competition winner, before 30 June 2020.
► The winner is responsible for any other expenses involved in attending the Cove Park retreat and the mentoring afternoon.
► Submitters who have not had any poetry previously published in print or online (see definition above) are also invited to enter the Unpublished Prize by ticking the previously unpublished option on your entry for.
WOMEN'S PAMPHLET COMPETITION
Your Poems
► The pamphlet competition is separate from the single poem competition and is for short collections of up to 24 pages of up to 20 poems.
► Submitted pamphlet collections may contain poems of any length or style, providing all poems are original work, each page contains no more than 40 lines of poetry, and there are no more than 24 pages of poetry in total.
► Poems must be typed, single-spaced, on A4 pages and in a single document.
► Entries are judged anonymously, so please do not put your name anywhere on your poems.
► No alterations may be made to a pamphlet collection once it has been submitted.
► You may enter any number of pamphlet collections.
► Your work will not be returned, so don’t forget to keep a copy.
► The winning author will be offered Seren’s standard publishing agreement in which copyright for the poems remains with the author, but Seren reserves the right to publish the work in its entirety or in part in the UK, Ireland, and the rest of the world for three years following the publication of the pamphlet. All rights will revert to the author at the end of this time.
► Mslexia, PBS and Seren retain the unrestricted right to use the winning poems and any related material for PR purposes.
Eligibility
► Poems should be in English (or English dialect) and should not be a translation of another author’s work.
► Poems submitted may not have been published previously as part of a pamphlet or full collection, but poems that have been published in magazines, anthologies, blogs and other media are eligible.
► Simultaneous submissions of a pamphlet collection are allowed, provided the winning poet withdraws her work from consideration in other competitions immediately upon notification of success in the Mslexia/PBS competition.
► You may enter any poem from your pamphlet into our competition for single poems, provided it fulfills the entry requirements. These are separate competitions, so you would need to make a separate entry. Success in one competition will not affect your chance of success in the other competition.
► We accept poems from women of any nationality, from any country.
► You do not have to subscribe to Mslexia or be a PBS member to be eligible, but you do have to be a woman. Entries are welcomed from women in the transgender community.
► Poets who have previously had a full-length poetry collection published are not eligible.
► Employees of Mslexia, PBS and Seren are not eligible.
How to Enter
► Entries are open from the 1 June and close at 5pm GMT 16 September 2019.
► Enter online via Submittable or by completing a postal form (available to download here) and post to Poetry Book Society, Milburn House, Dean Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1LF.
► You can pay online, by cheque (payable to Poetry Book Society), by debit/credit card or by phone (+44 (0)191 230 8100 with your details).
► If entering online, be sure to follow the instructions on the website carefully. Pamphlets should be sent as a single attachment.
► Please include a title and contents page, but do not include your name in the pamphlet.
► The £20 entry fee allows you to enter one pamphlet of up to 24 pages of up to 20 poems. You may enter as many times as you like, provided each collection is accompanied by the £20 entry fee.
► Entry fees must be in pounds sterling. For overseas entries, international online card payments are accepted.
Prize Terms
► The winner will be contacted in February 2020. The winning pamphlet will be awarded £250 and be published by Seren Books in 2020. One or more poems from the winning pamphlet will be published in the Mar/Apr/May 2020 issue of Mslexia and in the PBS Summer Bulletin.