Poets’ Breakfast Criteria & Conditions

Maybe you’re a poet and you just don’t know it! Well, take the poetic plunge and enter the Parkes Elvis Festival Poetry Competition or just come to the breakfast. Categories include: Best Novice, Open Contender and People’s Choice

Terms and Conditions of Entry

Please note that the following conditions must be adhered to by all Elvis Poets’ Breakfast Competition participants. Failure to do so may result in removal from the competition.

Entry

  1. Entries for the 2024 Elvis Poets’ Breakfast Competition will be accepted until midnight, 22 December 2023.
  2. Submission is Free.
  3. Entrants may enter either the Open or Novice categories. The Novice category is only open to those who have never been published or won or been shortlisted in a poetry competition before. All entrants are automatically eligible for People’s Choice category.
  4. Up to 3 poems will be accepted per entrant.
  5. All entries are to be available for reproduction and /or publication by the Parkes Elvis Festival with copyright being retained by the author.

Prizes

  1. Novice Category – Author has not previously won or been shortlisted in a poetry competition or have been published
    Winner $75 cash, Highly Commended, Commended
  2. Open Category – Author has previously won, been shortlisted in a poetry competition or have been published.
    Winner $150 cash, Highly Commended, Commended
  3. People’s Choice Award
    Prize $75 cash
  4. The winner of each category will be announced at the Elvis Poets’ Breakfast during the Parkes Elvis Festival.

Eligibility

  1. Entries are welcome from all Australian citizens or permanent residents, 18 years and older.
  2. Entries must be submitted via our online form.
  3. Poems entered must not have previously been published.
  4. Entries must be your own original work and not infringe upon any copyright.
  5. Entries that are deemed to be works of plagiarism will be disqualified.
  6. Entries must contain nothing unlawful, defamatory, or anything our judges may deem to be inappropriate.
  7. Parkes Shire Council staff and Councilors are not eligible to enter.
  8. All entrants must tick the declaration box on the entry form to be eligible.

Format

  1. Entries must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF format.
  2. Each entry must be a single poem of no more than 70 lines, written in English.
  3. Font: Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing, 12pt, black.
  4. Multiple pages should be numbered.
  5. Stanza breaks must be clearly indicated.
  6. The author’s name must not appear anywhere in the document or in the name of the digital file.
  7. The file name should only include the title of the poem.

Judging

  1. Submitted entries will be judged on both their written content as well as the author’s ability to present their poem in a performance situation. The written judging will take place before the Poets’ Breakfast (see judging criteria). The performance judging will take place at the Poets’ Breakfast on the Thursday of the festival. The top six (6) written entries in both the Open and Novice sections will be announced on the morning of the Poets’ Breakfast. These six (6) entries in each section will proceed to the second part of judging – recitation.
  2. Judging is completely anonymous.
  3. The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into about the judging process or the judgements.

Enter now!