The Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest
1,000 dollars for one glorious poem
Sponsored by TNQ editor Kim Jernigan and family in celebration of the man who sparked their love of poetry, this contest is for poems written in response to an occasion, personal or public-poems of gratitude or grief, poems that celebrate or berate, poems that make of something an occasion or simply mark one. We are interested in light verse and in verse more sober, in the whole spectrum of tones and occasions. One of Nick's own poems, which we think captures the broadness of his (and our) sense of 'occasion', is pictured at left. For a bit lengthier background on the genre, you can also turn to Amanda Jernigan's funny and thoughtful essay on poems and occasions, linked below. Both originally appeared in Issue 100 of TNQ.
We will award a grand prize of $1,000 to the poem judged most worthy. Another $1,000 in prize money will be distributed as the judges fancy. However the prize money falls, the best of what we see will be published in The New Quarterly, at our usual rates, and posted on our website.
Entry fee: $40 for up to 2 unpublished poems, $5 each for additional poems. Submissions include a one-year subscription (or subscription extension) to The New Quarterly, and may be accompanied by a brief paragraph describing the event that occasioned the poem.
Eligiblity: Entrants must be Canadian or currently residing in Canada. Entries may not be previously published, accepted, or submitted for publication elsewhere. There are no restrictions on length or number of entries, so long as the appropriate fees are paid. Entrants anonymity will be carefully preserved throughout the judging process. Every entrant will receive notification via email that his or her entry has been received. The decisions will by made by August 31; winner(s) and finalists will receive notification by letter.
Deadline: Postmarked May 1
How to Enter
