Arc’s International Poem of the Year Contest is in its fourteenth year, and is one of the longest running poetry competitions in Canada. For thirty years Arc has published some of the finest poets from across the country and abroad.
Contest Guidelines
Arc: Canada’s National Poetry Magazine invites entries to its International Poem of the Year Contest.
1st Prize: $1500
2nd Prize: $1000
3rd Prize: $750
Contest Entry:
Entry fee is $23, in Canadian funds, which entitles you to a one-year subscription of Arc mailed to a Canadian address, beginning with the Winter 2010 issue. (If you already have a subscription, you can give your new one-year subscription to a friend. Please include their mailing address.) Alternately, you can choose to have one issue sent to a U.S. or overseas address. You can pay your contest entry fee through the online poetry stand where we accept Visa, Mastercard, paypal, and e-cheques. Alternately, you can send a cheque or money order with your mailed contest submission.
Contest Rules:
All contest submissions must be submitted by post mail.
All cheques or money orders should be in Canadian funds and made out to the Arc Poetry Society.
Arc welcomes Poem of the Year entries from Canada, the United States, and around the world, but if you live outside Canada we still need to receive your entry fee in Canadian funds. It is easiest if you use the Poetry Stand to submit your contest entry payment. Otherwise, you should be able to obtain a money order in Canadian funds from your post office, if you are not able to write a cheque in Canadian funds.
Entrants may submit up to two unpublished poems with your $23 fee.
To include extra poems, add $5 per poem.
No e-mail submissions accepted.
Length of each poem must not exceed 100 lines.
Entrant’s name, address, e-mail and phone number must not appear on the poems, but instead on a separate sheet that also lists the titles of the poems entered.
Judging is blind.
No entrants (including winners, honourable mentions, or authors of Editor’s Choice poems) may substitute, before, during, or after judging, a revision of any poem already submitted to the contest.
No poems will be returned.
Judging:
Arc editorial consortium
Next Deadline: Entries must be postmarked no later than June 30, 2009.
Only winners will be notified by October 15, 2009.
Privacy Notice: Unless you indicate otherwise, Arc may share addresses of entrants to the 2008 Poem of the Year Contest with similar literary magazines or related organizations for promotional purposes. If you would like your address information kept private, write “Please don’t share my address” near your address information on the sheet you include with your submission. Your request will be honoured.
Shortlist:
50 shortlisted poems, pending permission of their authors, will be eligible for the Readers’ Choice Award.
Visit this site between September 1 and September 30, 2009 to read poems contending for Readers’ Choice and cast your vote!
Publication: Winning poems will be published in Arc’s Winter 2010 issue (published December 2009).
Send entries to:
Poem of the Year Contest
Arc: Canada’s National Poetry Magazine
P.O. Box 81060 Ottawa, Ontario
Canada, K1P 1B1
Sandra Ridley, Contests
Arc Poetry Magazine
The Writing Pool 