NEO•GRIOT

Contest

 

Welcome to Aquillrelle Contest 2

We are still excited, still eager to provide this new outlet to the poetic creativity powers existing out there, in the world.

The guideline for this second contest will prompt you to find your inspiration in the words of two great, creative minds: Neruda and Asimov. Nothing in common between the two except... greatness. Hereunder, please find their words:

Pablo Neruda: "You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming."

Isaac Asimov: "If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster."

Can you write a poem taking these cues as your guideline? We know you can. Take the cues as liberally as you wish to, what we are looking for is, simply put, great poetry. Good luck!

Entries expected and accepted until 31 May 2010.

Contest results will be published on 31 July 2010.

Yes, we are all humans (well, most of us...), therefore a few days here or there, either for your submissions or for our results publishing, will be taken with a smile.

Frequently asked questions

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Push here for all FAQ and answers in one go

 1.  How do I submit?

Please pay via Paypal the relevant amount, according to the number of poems you intend to submit.

We simplified the procedure: when we accept your payment, you will receive to your mailbox a notification that the payment was received. Please make sure you mention on your poems a link to your paypal payment (name or email address) so that we can associate between them. Please send the poems as a .doc attachment to: aquillrelle_at_aquillrelle.com . 

2. How do I pay? 

Please use Paypal only, send the total as per your number of poems to be sent. Please use as receiver of the payment: aquillrelle_at_aquillrelle.com.

3. Can I send more than 5 poems?

Yes, each group of 5 poems will be calculated independently for payment.

4. Can I send my poetry in printed form?

Sorry, no (reason – lack of time to change it into electronic form).

5. How will I know if my poem won? 

You will be informed by email to your mailbox. The top 3 winners will have to send us their address, and they will receive the book containing the winners and the runners up.

6. How many poems will be in the book? 

A maximum total of 80 poems - the 3 winners and 77 runner-up poems. If there are insufficient runner-up poems, the book will contain as many as suitable.

7. Can I win more than one top prize?

Since the judging is anonymous - yes, this might happen.

8. Who are the judges? 

The site administrators (who are poets themselves) + occasionally a guest judge. 
9. Can I send corrections to a submission? 

Yes, but please - one time only. 
10. Can I use "poetical license" for my wording, phrasing, English? 

Certainly, after all this is an integral part of the art of poetry. Just make sure we know about it (if not obvious) so your poem doesn't suffer any set-back because we misunderstand and take an "intentional mistake" for a "genuine typo". 

11. Do you edit the submissions? 

No. Therefore, badly spelled poems have almost no chance of winning, since they will not be suitable either for a prize, or for a final book of poetry. 

12. Can I get my money back? 

Sorry, no.

13. How do I get my prize money? 

We will send it exclusively via Paypal. Our prizes are in Euros or US$ (will be defined for each contest).

14. If there are insufficient submissions? 

We hope this will never be the case. However, in the unlikely event of insufficient submissions - we will Paypalback to you the exact amount we received from you via Paypal (which is lower than you sent, since Paypal takes a commission for each transfer). 

15. Are you willing to edit/publish my book of poetry? 

This is not our main activity, even though we do it occasionally at a very reasonable price; editing of text excluded. Contact us at: aquillrelle_at_aquillrelle.com. Publishing is either via Lulu or via Amazon, ISBN included of course.

16. Where are you physically located? 

We are based in Europe, with our main server located in Houston, Texas.

17. How do you protect yourself from viruses? 

Our server provider does it for us.

18. Languages? 

English only, and we do not mind UK or US, even though our spell-checker and dictionaries are US oriented. (NOTE: if occasion arrises we may try a contest in another language)

19. Is this a serious outfit? 

Very. Both nice and serious.