What to Submit?
1 original, poem on the theme of .............Juvenilia
(Form must be Rhyme or Acrostic)
Have you ever bought the “complete works” of a famous poet and found a section entitled “Juvenilia”, usually located near the rear of the volume? On reading the poems through you might discover they were interesting and different from the poet’s most famous adult works. Yet, somehow because the poet was young when they wrote them, these poems are perceived differently. Do you have anything hidden in an old diary, or even in an awkward school exercise book - a few half-finished lines that you are ashamed of – but still have a ring to them? Perhaps they were better than you thought. (Remember John Keats died of TB around 25 and Wilfred Owen was killed in war at 24.)
Go back and polish one up – or just clip out the best few lines as a stand-alone poem.
To be eligible for this competition a poem:
- Must have been commenced before you were twelve years old,
or
- Based on an idea you threw away because you thought it was too childish,
or
- If you genuinely didn’t put pen to paper before retiring from your day job, just an early attempt you were ashamed to post before.
This is all about giving a hug to your inner-child-poet.
Prizes
First Prize, Glory
Second Prize, Glory
Third Prize, Glory
Ten Placed poems
Preparing Your Entry
Submit one copy of your poem online. Format your poem. Please make your entry easy to read — no illustrations or fancy fonts.
Professional Presentation:
Please do not include the sponsor’s name or say “Written for the competition”. As I have mentioned before, both of these things may influence the judge’s perception.
You may make a note that says “entered into the Juvenilia competition”, or “written when I was nine”, or “from an old diary”, or “an early attempt”, if you need to explain to your other readers why this poem is not your “usual style”.
English Language
Poems should be in English. Poems translated from other languages are not eligible, unless you wrote both the original poem and the translation.
A Note to Poetry Contestants
You are welcome to enter this contest, whether or not you won a prize in one of my previous contests.