Announcing the Pighog Moss Rich International Poetry Prize
New prize for Humorous and Satirical Poetry
FIRST PRIZE £1000
In honour of poet Moss Rich, who died in December 2011 in his 102nd year, Pighog Press is proud to announce the Pighog Moss Rich International Poetry Prize – this year for Humorous and Satirical Poetry.
Moss believed that poetry relied on ‘minstrelsy, directness and truth’ and over the years Moss used his poetic skills to satirise, send up and spoof as can be seen in some of the poems in his Pighog pamphlet Requiem for a Typewriter and a forthcoming collection of his limericks.
In 1975, Moss sent a satirical poem about the Harold Wilson government in Britain to a political columnist at The Times in London. He was surprised to see that they published it and even more so to receive a cheque for 'two and a half or three guineas' in payment for the piece. Moss said, ‘From then on, I began taking poetry seriously,’ although in light of his wicked sense of humour, it might be fair to say not too seriously.
Humour has the power to break ice and pretension, to bring people together and to highlight an emperor’s lack of clothes. As Moss demonstrated, humour can be persuasive: a means of revealing the ridiculousness of a situation, exposing faulty lines of reason, or of smuggling non-conformist opinion into the field of debate. Humour can be literature’s Trojan horse - and it has never been needed more than now.
So send us your humorous or satirical poems up to 30 lines in length by June 29th 2012 for your chance to win the Pighog Moss Rich International Poetry Prize for Humorous and Satirical Poetry!
The prize is open to anyone over 18 writing in English anywhere in the world. Entries will be accepted from March 1st 2012.
The deadline for all entries is Saturday June 29th 2012 and entry is £3 per poem, or £10 for four poems submitted together. You may submit a maximum of four poems but each poem should be no more than thirty lines long. The poem must be written in a humorous or satirical style. Please read the rules below before entering and make sure that your entry complies with them all before submission.
Please submit your poem using the entry form, downloadable below. You can submit your entry form and poem(s) to Pighog by email (to mrpp@pighog.co.uk) or post, but not both. If by any chance you have difficulty downloading the entry form, please email us at mrpp@pighog.co.uk and we will forward you a copy.
Please also see the Notice to Schools & Colleges.
The following three judges are profiled on this website. Please click their names to read more.
Brendan Cleary (Chair)
John Davies (Director, Pighog Press)
Charlotte Gann
The other judges are Milly Rich, Moss Rich's widow and Shula Rich, their daughter. You can read our profile of Moss here.
Entry form (Word)
Entry form (PDF)
Please click the appropriate button below to pay the entry fee. If entering 2-3 poems you can adjust the quantity using the PayPal basket page before completing check-out.
RULES:
1. The competition is open to anyone aged 18 (at the time of submitting their poems) writing in English anywhere in the world. All entries must be written in English.
2. Entries must not exceed 30 lines of poetry.
3. Entries must be written to produce a humorous or satirical effect.
4. Entry costs £3 per poem or £10 for 4 poems submitted together. Each poet may enter up to 4 poems each.
5. You may submit poems via email to mrpp@pighog.co.uk.
6. You may submit your poems by post to
Pighog Press, P.O. Box 145, Brighton BN1 6ZA England UK.
If submitting by post from outside the UK please send an International Money Order for your entry fee. If submitting by post within the UK please enclose a cheque made out to Pighog Press and crossed A/C Payee.
7. The entry form can be photocopied if required.
8. The Closing Date is June 29th 2012. All entries must be postmarked that day or before to be eligible. Online entries must be received by midnight on June 29th 2012.
9. No identifying marks should be on the poem itself.
10. Each poem should be accompanied by an entry form.
11. All entries should be formatted for printing on A4 paper and must be typed, double-spaced (12pt, Times New Roman preferred) and on one side of paper only. Each entry must be typed on a separate page.
12. All entries must be the original work of the entrant.
13. Your entry should not currently be submitted to any other competition, neither should it have won a previous competition.
14. Entries must not have been published previously, whether in print, online or broadcast on radio or TV.
15. Copyright remains with the poet, although the organisers reserve the right to publish any entry at any time.
16. The judge’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
17. The judges are: Brendan Cleary (Chair), John Davies (Director, Pighog Press), Charlotte Gann, and Milly and Shula Rich. More information about the judges can be found on the Pighog website.
18. There will be three prizes: First £1000, Second £250, and Third £100. Poems that in the judges’ opinion have special merit may be included in a Prize anthology.
19. Winners will be notified by September 1st 2012. A list of winners and their poems will appear on the Pighog website.
20. No entries will be returned so please keep a copy of your poem.
21. Receipt of entries will not be acknowledged.
22. Entries with insufficient postage will be disqualified.
23. Entries without payment in full will be disqualified.
24. Entry fees are non-refundable.
25. The competition organisers reserve the right to alter these rules at any time.
26. Entry indicates an acceptance of these rules. Entries failing to meet all of these rules will be disqualified.
Promoted by Pighog Press Ltd
P O Box 145
Brighton BN1 6ZA
England UK
www.pighog.co.uk
info@pighog.co.uk
