Poetry Contest Rules

OOG: The following notice, rules, voting, and prize have been approved by James C. Kimball


The Travance Chronicle is holding a poetry contest.

Submit your poem to the editor by Wednesday, August 28. Poems will be printed in the September Chronicle, which will be distributed at Market Faire on Saturday, September 7. Voting will be held during the Family Festival on September 21. Each poem will be read aloud by a bard so that subjects who cannot read can still enjoy the poems, and vote for their favorite.

Here are the rules:

1. Original poems only, no prose. Any poetry style is allowed.
2. Please avoid poems of a mature nature, as there will be young listeners in the audience.
3. Only one poem per person, please.
4. Submit your poem to Amizar Wuzwhir (PM Amizar), editor, who will publish them with the names removed.
5. The author of each poem will be represented by a number, for example, “poet number 4.”
6. Poems will be read at the Fall Festival, but the authors will still be anonymous. The authors need not be present at the festival to compete in this contest.
7. Festival attenders, young and old, will be given a ballot. Votes will be cast and counted.
8. When the winning poem is announced, the name of the winning poet will be revealed!

The Prize:

The Bard’s Bones is a single magic die, which will grant the winner a Bardic Ballad (maybe). Depending on the roll of the die, you could get a first- or second-rank ballad, a third- or fourth-rank ballad, or nothing at all! (OOG: one roll per event at check-in)

Good luck to all you poets!

Is there a word or line limit you would like entrants to adhere to?

Croínamara wrote: Is there a word or line limit you would like entrants to adhere to?

No strict limit, but a whole song with four verses and the chorus three times may be a bit much. Rather than place a limit, I would remind poets that the attention span of [some of] our subjects is about half-a-page. Remember that the poems will be read by bards (maybe even you, Croi) and there will be children listening.

Thank you for the excellent question. I know you have some original poetry!

There is still time to submit your poem to the contest...the deadline is this Wednesday, August 28. Poets need not attend the Family Festival to have their poem considered. So, if you would like to win The Bard's Bones, be sure to submit your poem (PM Amizar) by midnight on Wednesday.

May The Best Poet Win!