Closing date - Monday 24th January 2011

Poems in Category 1
The Strokestown International Poetry Prize
- should be in English and should not exceed 70 lines

Poems in Category 2
Duais Cholmcille / The Colmcille Prize
- should be in Irish or Scots Gaelic and should not exceed 70 lines

Poems in Category 3
The Percy French Prize for humorous verse
- should be in English, or with a translation if in Irish, and of any reasonable length, but must be funny!

1. Entrants may submit an unlimited number of poems, in any of the categories.
2. There are two ways to enter: by post or by email.
For postal entries each poem must be accompanied by a fee of €5 / £5 sterling / $5 US dollars. See entry form.
Personal cheques or postal orders, made out to Strokestown Poetry Festival, are accepted - but must be in Euros, Sterling or US dollars only. Competitors wishing to pay in other currencies must enter only by email and pay by credit card.

For email entries paid with credit/debit card payments the fee per poem is €6.
(We regret that competitors are not permitted to email poems and pay by post.) Click here for how to enter poems and pay by this method.
3. All poems must be the original work of a living author and must not have been previously published, self-published, published on a website or broadcast.
4. Poems sent by post must be typed or very clearly written in black ink on one side of the paper only. The poems, and payment, should be firmly attached to an entry form. The name of the entrant must not appear on the poems themselves.
5. Poems sent by email should be attached to the email, not pasted into the body of it. They should be in the form of Word files (with the suffix .doc) or PDF files (with the suffix .pdf). N.B. The name of the entrant must not appear on the poems themselves. Click here for how to enter poems in this way.
6. No alterations can be made to the poem once it has been submitted, whether by post or email, and it is regretted that no entries can be returned.
7. The judges' decisions are final and no correspondence can be entered into regarding those decisions.
8. The judges' shortlists will be announced in mid March, and the prizes will be announced and awarded during the Strokestown International Poetry Festival, Co. Roscommon, Ireland, which will take place over the weekend of April 30th-May 2nd 2010.
9. It is a condition of entry that short-listed competitors are prepared to attend the festival weekend and read a selection of their work for a fee of €400 including travelling expenses. A list of the prize-winners will be posted up on this website as soon as they are announced during the festival weekend.
10. Copyright will remain with the competitor, but Strokestown Community Development Association reserves the right to arrange first publication or broadcast of selected poems as it sees fit.
11. Submission of a poem implies the competitor's acceptance of the conditions set out above.

The entry fee is €5 (or £5 sterling, or $5) per poem, and for online entries €6 per poem.
All entries should arrive on or before Monday 24th Janurary 2011 at:
Strokestown Poetry Festival Office, Strokestown, County Roscommon, Ireland.

The Strokestown International Poetry Prize
Prizes of €4,000 (currently approximately £3,500 sterling or $5,500 US dollars), €2000 and €1000 for an unpublished poem in English not exceeding 70 lines. In addition the ten short-listed poets are invited to read a selection of their work at the festival for a reading fee and travelling expenses totalling €400 (approximately £380 / $640).

Duais Cholmcille / The Colmcille Poetry Prize
Prizes of €4,000 (currently approximately £3,500 sterling or $5,600 US dollars) €2,000 and €1,000 for a poem in Irish or Scottish Gaelic, unpublished and not exceeding 70 lines. The six shortlisted poets are invited to read at the festival
for a reading fee and travelling expenses totalling €400 (about £380 / $640).

Arís i mbliana, le tacaíocht Cholmcille, beidh an duais is luachmhaire atá ar fáil do dhán i nGaeilge nó i nGàidhlig á thairiscint ag Féile Idirnáisiúnta Bhéal Átha na mBuillí. Tá príomhdhuais €4,000 á thairiscint, dara duais €2,000 agus triú duais €1,000. Chomh maith leis sin beidh táille léitheoireachta agus taistil €400 ar fáil don dtriúr eile ar an ngearrliosta.

The Percy French Prize for witty - ideally topical - verse. Backhanders of €300, €100, €80 and various other sums in brown envelopes are passed under the table for witty verse in English, or with a translation if in Irish. Poems can be on any subject but they must be funny!

http://www.strokestownpoetry.org/

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