THE MELITA HUME POETRY PRIZE is
an award of £1,500 and a publishing deal with Eyewear Publishing Ltd., for the
best first full collection by a young poet writing in the English language, 35
YEARS OR UNDER at the time of entry. The aim of this prize is to support
younger emerging writers. This is open to any one of the requisite age, of any
nationality, resident in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. It is free to
enter.
Previous winners are Caleb Klaces for Bottled Air (2012); judge Tim Dooley; Marion McCready for Tree
Language (2013); judge Jon Stone; Amy
Blakemore for Humbert Summer (2014);
judge Emily Berry.
2015 competition
The Judge for the 2015 competition
is Toby Martinez de las Rivas. His poetry collection Terror was published by Faber & Faber in 2014, and he is widely
considered one of the best younger poets now writing. Toby Martinez de las Rivas was born in
1978. He grew up in Somerset, then moved to the north-east of England after
studying history and archaeology at Durham where he began writing. He first worked as an archaeologist and this, together with the landscape
of Northumberland and the work of north-eastern writers such as Barry
MacSweeney and Gillian Allnutt have had a significant impact on the development
of his own poetry. He won an Eric Gregory award in 2005 and the Andrew
Waterhouse award from New Writing North in 2008. His pamphlet was
published by Faber as part of the Faber New Poets scheme.
The judge will select the best collection from the shortlist, which will be no more than ten, and no fewer than six poets. The 2015 competition is now open, and closes at 5pm on April 8th, 2015. The prize is free to enter, and submissions will be accepted from anyone of the requisite age, of any nationality; the poet must be resident in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland. Manuscripts must be between 50 -100 pages; and the work must be previously unpublished in full book form. Up to half the poems can have appeared before in a pamphlet.
The 2015 shortlist
will be announced in by June 2015 and the winner will be announced by July 2015. The winning collection will be published in
2016.
1.
This contest is open to poets 35 years of age or under at
date of entering.
2.
Entrants
can be from anywhere in the world.
Entrants must be currently resident in the United Kingdom and/or Ireland—
please note that publication will be in the UK and sold internationally.
3.
The
Prize is free to enter.
4.
Work must
be in English and unpublished in its full form (up to 50% can have appeared in
pamphlet form prior to submission and individual poems may have appeared in
magazines).Translations
and self-published books are not eligible. The work must be by a single author.
5.
Only
electronic manuscripts are admissible. No printed paper entries will be
accepted. Documents must be titled with the name of the poet.
6.
Manuscripts must include a standard covering sheet that
includes your name, address and contact details, your date of birth, the title
of the work, a biography of between 150 and 250 words and a statement that you have
read and accepted these terms and conditions. Covering sheets are available as
a Word document upon request from us at info@eyewearpublishing.com
.
7.
Manuscripts
must include a table of contents and a list of acknowledgments for poems
previously published.
8.
Electronic
manuscripts must be typed in Microsoft Word or supplied as a PDF file,
paginated, single spaced and between 50–100 pages in length. The page size must be A4 (297 × 210 mm). The page count does not include the covering
sheet, list of contents or acknowledgements of previous publication.
9.
No
alterations to the manuscript will be accepted after submission. No
correspondence can be entered into for entries once they are made.
11.
Late submissions will not be accepted. Eyewear Publishing takes no responsibilities
for technical difficulties.
12.
Confirmation of receipt of entries will be sent by email within
ten working days of submission.
13.
The
winner will receive a £1,500 prize, including publication within 18 months by
Eyewear under their standard contractual terms, and a launch in London.
14.
The
shortlist will be no fewer than six and no more than ten poets.
15.
All poets
must agree to send promotional material if requested (photo and extended biography),
and grant permission to be listed as shortlisted for the prize in press
releases and online.
16.
Poets
agree to abide by all the rules, and must accept the prize if selected as the
winner.
17.
We
cannnot offer feedback on individual entries.
18.
Eyewear
Publishing Ltd. retains the right to cancel the Melita Hume Poetry Prize without
prior notice.
Checklist
1.
I
have included a completed covering sheet with my submission.
2.
I
have emailed my submission.
3.
I
have read and understood the terms and conditions above.
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