The New Zealand Poetry Society's 2010 International Poetry Competition

The New Zealand Poetry Society’s annual International Poetry Competition, Verse and Haiku, is under way, with Open and Junior Sections. The Junior Open and Junior Haiku sections are open to students who are 17 years of age or younger on 31st May 2010. Please visit our website at www.poetrysociety.org.nz for full competition details and to download the entry forms. Last year’s results, including winning poems and judges’ reports, are also on the website.

Entries must be received by 31 May 2010.

Prizes

Open: 1st - $500; 2nd - $250; 3rd - $100
Open Junior: 1st - $200
Primary/Intermediate: 1st runner-up - $100; 2nd runner-up - $50
Secondary: 1st runner-up - $100; 2nd runner-up - $50
Haiku: Top five haiku - $100 each, plus First Prize Winner receives the Jeanette Stace Memorial Prize of $150.
Haiku Junior: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Primary/Intermediate - $50 each; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Secondary - $50 each

In addition, the writer of the haiku considered the best of the two sections receives the Jeanette Stace Memorial Prize of $100. All prizes are in New Zealand Dollars.

All winning and commended poems, along with other selected entries, will appear in the New Zealand Poetry Society’s annual anthology in November 2010, to be edited by Barbara Strang of Christchurch. It is not necessary to buy a copy of the anthology in order to have a poem included, as the selections are made blind (i.e. without identifying information).

This year’s judges are:

Vivienne Plumb (Auckland) – Open Verse
Tony Beyer (New Plymouth)– Open Haiku
Lynn Davidson (Nelson) – Junior Verse
Karen Peterson Butterworth (Manawatu) – Junior Haiku

Further enquiries can be directed to: Laurice Gilbert, The Competition Secretary, PO Box 5283, Wellington 6145, competition (at) poetrysociety.org.nz