NATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION 2021

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Theme: Community/羣 (qun)/Masyarakat /சமூகம் (samoogam)
 

Community fosters trust, care and belonging within society and forms vital support for individual existence. The poet, through the breadth of artistic creation, explores and builds on this sense of belonging. Poetry transcends the individual to embrace the flourishing of the collective and offer an inclusive space for integration.

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Poetry Festival (Singapore) is challenging aspiring poets to submit entries to the National Poetry Competition.

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Categories:

• Super Junior (10 to 14 years old)

• Junior (15 to 17 years old or below) and

• Senior (18 years old or above)

Length:

• Up to 40 lines

Language:

• English, Chinese, Malay, or Tamil.

 

The poems are evaluated by published poets in their respective mother tongues. English translations are required for public performance or possible publication.

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The winning entries will be performed at the awards ceremony on August 6.

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Competition rules

 

1. The competition is open to Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents.

2. The closing date of the competition is midnight on 28 May 2021.

3. Each participant is encouraged to submit his, her or their best poem, which should be unpublished and not submitted simultaneously to another competition. If more than one work is submitted, the first submission will be the only one eligible.

4. All poems must have a title and must not exceed 40 lines in length (excluding title). Entries must be on an interpretation of the theme “Community.” Send your entry at or before midnight on 28 May 2021 via an online form in Word and pdf formats.

5. All entries will be evaluated anonymously by the judges.

6. Entries must be accompanied by the online Entry Form, which is to be duly and factually completed.

7. Entries will not be returned, so keep your own copy.

8. Under no circumstances can changes be made to poems once submitted.

9. Entries made via the website will receive a confirmation of submission.

10. Should there be multiple entries, only the FIRST entry will be considered.

11. The competition organizers reserve the right to change the judging panel without notice and not to award prizes if, in the judges’ opinion, no entry deserves a prize.

12. The judges’ decision is final and neither the judges nor the National Poetry Competition staff will enter into any correspondence.

13. No current member of the National Poetry Competition’s steering committee is eligible to enter the National Poetry Competition.

14. Poems must be the original work of the entrant.

15. Entries should be typed and printed in black ink on A4 paper at a minimum type size of 12pt. Entries can be double- or single-spaced. Entries must be submitted in Word and pdf files.

16. There is no fee required to participate in the competition.

17. Mother Tongue poems will only require English translations, only after entrants are being shortlisted.

18. Top winners will be notified by the end of June and invited to an award ceremony on August 6. All winners will be required to provide a biography and photograph.

19. The copyright of each poem remains with the writer. However, writers of the top poems, by entering the competition, grant the Poetry Festival (Singapore) the right to publish and/or broadcast their poems.

20.  Each participant is encouraged to submit his or her best poem, which should be unpublished and not submitted simultaneously to another competition. By unpublished, we refer to a poem not accepted for publication, or broadcast through any public media, journals or anthologies (whether online or in print).