Poetry Rivals 2013

Poetry Rivals 2013: The UK Poetry Event that Embraces and Encourages Poets of all Ages.

Whether you want to put the world to rights through rap, make people laugh with a humorous verse or maybe show your softer side by writing a love piece about someone special, Poetry Rivals 2013 is the competition for you! Poetry Rivals has announced its 2013 National Poetry competition with more prizes on offer than ever before including a £1,500 ‘Proprint’ self-publishing package and the opportunity to perform at the event’s all-important Slam Final! This ever-growing annual event in the literary calendar helps poets of all ages express themselves, gain confidence in creative writing and experience the stimulating world of performance poetry. The Poetry Rivals 2013 contest is divided into three categories: under 16 year olds, 16-25 and over 25’s and is open to everyone throughout the UK. The organisers are particularly aiming to attract teachers and schools to get involved and to encourage pupils from all across the UK to take part. Schools are invited to send in pupils’ poems to be considered for publication in an anthology and the chance to be invited to the Slam Final! The school with the best set of entries will win a full day's spoken word workshop with popular double act Dead Poets. Mark Grist and Mixy have been working with schools for the past 5 years and their workshops have inspired thousands of children all over the UK. Entrants can submit poems on any subject and in any poetic style and this year the organisers have come up with by far their most impressive selection of prizes to date. The under 16’s first prize is a top of the range laptop. The winner of the 16-25 category will receive a one-to-one workshop with Mark Grist , a video of their performance created with a crew of professionals and a paid performance at a UK festival. Top prize in the over 25’s is a Proprint self-publishing package worth £1,500 which includes typesetting, cover design, proofs, ISBN registration and 250 printed copies. In addition there will be runner-up prizes in all categories of cash prizes and/or Kindles. The top 50 poets from each age category will be listed on the Poetry Rivals website and invited to perform their poem at one of the live Poetry Slams held in April 2014. Poetry Rivals also aim to help children reading aloud to improve their confidence in class and when performing. There are downloadable tips from the website http://www.poetryrivals.com/under-16s/reading-poetry-aloud.php Competition host Mark Grist will kick-start the finalist event and the judges will watch and mark each performance. Poetry Rivals was launched in 2009 to search for new poetry stars and is run by Bonacia Ltd. Entrants are invited to submit a poem on any subject and in any poetic style. Entries can be submitted online, by email or post. More details can be found by visiting www.poetryrivals.com About Poetry Rivals Poetry Rivals is a National Competition now in its 5th year. This exciting and well respected competition provides poets from across the UK with the opportunity to be published alongside other and possibly more established poets. Poetry Rivals also seeks to encourage people young and old to express themselves with confidence using performance poetry. The chosen judges poetry experts including Mark Grist, who was a judge and the slam host in 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012. Mark Grist is a teacher based in Peterborough, a performance poet (who reached last year's UK Slam Championship Finals), and a poetry activist. Contact: Tazmin Hunt Telephone: 01733 890099 Email: tazmin.hunt@poetryrivals.com