Welcome to the Plough Prize poetry competition, now in its eighth year.
The 2010 competition is now open. Entries must be received by October 31st 2010.
Entries are invited in three categories:
Open Poem (up to 40 lines)
Short Poem (up to 10 lines)
Poem for Children (length unrestricted)
See the 'Info' page for further details.
The full long and short listings and final results for all categories for the 2009 competition are available for download from the left-hand column on this page.
Please download the results newsletter to read the winning poems and judge's comments in the Open and Short categories, and the winning Devon Poem. If you have any difficulty accessing these documents, please contact us via the form on the 'Contact' page, and we'll do our best to help. Read the 2009 winning Poem for Children here.
Plough Prize 2010
Open Poem
Length: up to 40 lines Style: Unrestricted Theme: None Prizes: 1st £500, 2nd £200, 3rd £100 Short Poem
Length: up to 10 lines Style: Unrestricted Theme: None Prizes: 1st £500, 2nd £200, 3rd £100 Poem for Children
Length: Unrestricted Style: Unrestricted Theme: None Prizes: 1st £100 Poem suitable for reading by or to children of primary school age (5-11yrs).
Special prize for best Devon poem entered(any subject, poet resident in Devon). No additional entry fee.
Entry: £4, four poems £14, £3.50 thereafter (online entry incurs a small additional charge). Entries close October 31st 2010
Conditions of entry 2010
Please read the following conditions of entry carefully before you send us your poems. Entries that don't comply with them will be disqualified without refund.
Maximum length, excluding title and any blank lines: Open category, up to 40 lines. Short category, up to 10 lines. Poem for Children category, unlimited.
Each entered poem, including its title, should be typed single-spaced in a standard 10 or 12 point font on one side of a single A4 sheet (except Poem for Children category, which may run to additional pages), with a left margin wide enough for ring binding, and should not bear anything to identify the poet. No fancy/coloured/oversized fonts or images please!
Each entry (of one or more poems) should be accompanied by an entry form: download as pdf, download as MS Rich Text (for online entry, please use this form). If you are unable to download an entry form: the poet's name, address, telephone number, email address and poem title(s) should be printed clearly on a single separate A4 sheet. Please list each poem on a separate line (double spaced), and mark each poem title 'O', 'S' , or 'C'; and 'D' (for Devon poem) to indicate the category entered.
Short poems (up to ten lines) may be entered for either or both categories, on payment of an appropriate entry fee for each. Please provide a separate copy of your poem for each entry.
Poems must be the original work of the entrant, unpublished, and must not have won a prize in any other competition. No entrant may win more than one prize in each category.
To qualify for the 'Best Devon Poem' special prize, the poet must be resident in Devon. The poem may be on any subject. Mark each poem with a 'D' as well as its main category.
Postal Entry fee: £4.00 per poem, or £14 for four poems. Thereafter, £3.50 per poem. Cheques must be in pounds sterling, drawn on a UK bank and made payable to 'The Plough Arts Centre'.
Online Entry fee: £4.35 per poem. The 35p surcharge helps to defray printing costs, extra administrative time and PayPal charges. Surcharge waived for blocks of four or more poems entered in a single transaction.
Tick-box critiques are available at £6 per poem for entriesreceived by September 30th 2010 and (in the case of postal entries) accompanied by an SAE clearly marked 'TB.' Email critiques are not available for postal entries. Please allow up to eight weeks for delivery of your critique.
Full (in-depth) critiques are available for £30 per poem. The same conditions apply as for Tick-box critiques, above.
Please keep a copy of your work, as we cannot return entries. Please check your entry before you send it, since we cannot amend it for you later.
For a list of winners and listed poems, please send an A4 sized SAE marked 'results' and stamped at Large Letter rate, or subscribe to the free email results service on the home page of this site. Results run to around eight duplexed pages, so please don't send a tiny envelope.
Entries close October 31st 2010. All entries must be received by this date.
Prize-winners will be notified by February 1st 2011. The judge's decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
Copyright remains with the author, but The Plough Arts Centre reserves the right to display winning entries on its website, and to display, broadcast, or use them in promotional literature for a period of twelve months after the competition's close.
The Plough Arts Centre
9-11 Fore Street
Great TorringtonDevon
EX38 8HQBox Office and Enquiries:
Tel. 01805 624624
Devon prize for Devon poet A specially engraved crystal vase from Torrington-based Dartington Crystal will be awarded for the best poem from a Devon-based poet. There is no separate entry fee for this category - all qualifying Devon-based poems that have not been placed in any of the main categories will automatically be considered. You can see a larger picture of the 2008 vase here - the 2010 version will be slightly different.
