Contest Description
Submit a new or old Shakespearean Sonnet on any topic related to the upcoming holiday season between now and the end of the year, including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, New Years, or other cultural observances during this time of the year. You do not have to put the date written below your poem or the title of this contest. Winners of prizes in my previous contests are welcome to enter!
The sonnet form used by Shakespeare is composed of three quatrains and a closing couplet with iambic pentameter and a rhyme pattern of abab cdcd efef gg. This means there are 10 syllables per line with alternating stresses on subsequent syllables. Correct spelling and grammar count.
Jack Horne, a sonnet pro, will co-judge this contest with me. We’re judging blindly, so don’t put your names on your entries.
Prizes:
Second and third place winners will also receive jewelry. Ladies should put their ring sizes, if known, and their favorite colors for jewelry below their entries. Winners who live in the United States will receive their prizes in pretty jewelry boxes. Winners living outside the US will receive their prizes in elegant, satin, zippered pouches inside protective boxes for safe mailing.
Below their entries, men should put “Gift for a Lady” (with ring size if known) or "Gift for a Man." They may select a men’s gold-coated link chain or a decorated writer’s notebook that has a matching pen and key chain. (Gift-giving season will soon be here.)
Summary Checklist:
_____ Have you written with a holiday theme?
_____ Does your sonnet have 10 syllables per line?.
_____ Is the meter iambic, with stresses on every other syllable?
_____ Is the rhyme abab, cdcd, efef, gg?
_____ Have you checked your spelling and grammar?
_____ Ladies, did you put your ring size, if known, and favorite jewelry color below your poem?
_____ Men, did you put “Gift for a Lady” or choose “Gift for a Man”?
Good luck to everyone! Jack and I look forward to reading your entries.
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