Deadline midnight Sunday May 19th, 2024.
Results announced by the end of June, 2024.
Prizes
1st Prize: £200 (minimum*)
plus - publication in a future edition of the New Contexts anthology &
invitation to read the winning poem at a future Contextual virtual poetry reading event
2nd Prize: £80 (minimum*)
plus - publication in a future edition of the New Contexts anthology &
invitation to read the winning poem at a future Contextual virtual poetry reading event
3rd Prize: £40 (minimum*)
plus - publication in a future edition of the New Contexts anthology &
invitation to read the winning poem at a future Contextual virtual poetry reading event
*Cash prizes may be enhanced depending on the number of entries received.
For details on previous editions of New Contexts and the Contextual readings, please visit www.coverstorybooks.com.
Entry fee: £5 per poem
Guidelines and rules
- Poems must be written in English, can be on any subject, and must be the original work of the submitter. No Artificial Intelligence work please!
- The author must be at least 16 years old.
- Entries may be from any country.
- Each poem must be submitted in a separate file with the appropriate fee for each poem.
- The title of the poem should be used as the filename.
- Submission of more than one poem in a single file - i.e. multiple poems accompanied by only one entry fee - will disqualify all poems and the entry fee will be lost.
- Acceptable file formats: .doc, .docx, .rtf, .pdf
- There must be no means of identifying the author of the poems within the files submitted i.e. in the filename or the body of the text.
- Poems must not have been published in print or online, nor have previously won a prize. If a poem is published or wins a prize elsewhere prior to the 19th May 2024, it must be withdrawn from this competition.
- Once submitted, a poem cannot be amended.
- Copyright remains with the author, although entry grants Coverstory books permission to publish the winning poems.
- Poems must not exceed 60 lines (excluding title) and be typed in a standard font e.g. Times New Roman, Ariel, Helvetica etc.
- The judge will read all entries and his decision is final.
How to Enter
Entry is via Submittable. For any submission issues, please email coverstorybooks@icloud.com.
Judge: RICHARD LISTER
Richard Lister draws you into stories of intriguing characters, images and places. In his recent collection, 'Edge & Cusp', his poems ‘capture life like a vibrant painting, giving you the time to examine and ponder the hues of existence in all its beauty and tragedy’. His work is published in 12 international magazines including Acumen, Orbis, Ekphrastic Review and New Contexts, and is carved into the Radius sculpture. Lister is a Mole Valley Poet. He coaches leaders to bring life-giving transformation in the UK, Asia and Africa.