Recognizing and Developing Unpublished Canadian Poets

Entrant Requirements

Canadian citizens only, whose current primary residence is in Canada

Age 19 and older only

The contest is open to unpublished and self-published writers only, and not to writers who have had prose or poetry published by a traditional publisher or third party in books, anthologies, journals, online, or any other form.

Contest winners will be required to show proof of age, Canadian citizenship and residency. By entering this contest, you claim that you are an "unpublished or self-published writer", as defined above, and if it is brought to our attention that you are not, or that you are not the author of the poem you submit, you will be disqualified if you are one of our top three contest winners.

The Contest reserves the right to limit the number of entrants at any time during the submission period and make an announcement of such on this contest website.


Entry Submission

One entry per person

One poem per entry

Poem length not to exceed 40 lines

English language only

No contest entry fee

Submissions will be accepted from April 1, 2012 to June 1, 2012 only. Contest winners will be announced on October 1, 2012 and notified before this date.


How To Enter

Step 1: Send an e-mail to entrant@aspiringpoetscontest.org with your name, e-mail address, phone number, and just the title of the poem (not the poem you will submit) in the text field of the e-mail. The subject line should read: Contest entrant 2012. Do not send your contact info and the name of your poem in an e-mail attachment. All information should appear in the text / message area of your e-mail. No attachments please.

Step 2: Send an e-mail to poem@aspiringpoetscontest.org with your poem appearing directly in the text / message area of your e-mail. Do not send your contest entry poem in an e-mail attachment. Please be respectful of our concern about computer virus transmission. The subject line should read: Contest poem 2012.

Any Questions? Contact heidi@aspiringpoetscontest.org

Contest winners will be recognized by our contest judge (a published Canadian poet) with a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place ranking as well as the appearance of their contest entry poetry on this contest website.

The names of our contest winners will be listed in the Writing (Contests/Awards) section of the November 2012 issue of Quill & Quire, Canada's Magazine of Book News and Reviews.

An interview with the first-prize winner will be published on Allyson Latta's website, "Memoir Writing & More", www.allysonlatta.ca, recommended by The Writer magazine in the 125th-anniversary issue as one of "16 of Our Favorite Writing Blogs and Websites" (March 2012). Allyson is also our contest's Editorial/Media Adviser.

To develop talent, $1,000 in contest prize money will be directed to online private mentoring with the contest judge, poet Catherine Graham (for Catherine's biography, click on Contest Judge).

Contest winners will receive as follows:
1st place: 5 private online mentoring sessions
2nd place: 4 private online mentoring sessions
3rd place: 3 private online mentoring sessions

Online mentoring sessions create an opportunity for these aspiring poets for private instruction and to have a selection of their poems closely reviewed.

Click on the link above and go to the contest official site