A new international poetry competition to be launched on Wednesday 10th January 2007 is set to raise the profile of the sonnet within modern poetry. Many people associate sonnets only with poets from the Elizabethan era such as Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare, but the form is in regular and popular use within contemporary poetry.

The competition, which is expected to attract entries from the UK, America, Australia and across the world, has been organised by Open Poetry Ltd. Entries are open from now until the deadline of 31st October 2007. The competition judges include prestigious names from the world of literature including Susan Bassnett of Warwick University, the Whitbread Poetry Award and double T.S. Eliot Prize winner Don Paterson, and the much anthologized American poet Jacqueline Osherow.

The Director of Open Poetry Ltd, Christopher Whitby, explains the reasoning behind the competition’s inception. “It is at first surprising how popular the sonnet remains with contemporary poets. Whether using traditional schemes or introducing new aspects, writers are still finding sonnets capable of conveying an extraordinary variety of expression and posing interesting challenges. I hope that this competition will prove that the sonnet is still very much alive in modern poetry.”

The judges are looking for innovation and creative use of the medium, while recognising that a well-crafted poem will always stand out. “The aim of the competition is to see what can be done with, to, by and for the sonnet in the 21st century,” comments Christopher. “That’s why the only formal stipulation for entries is 14 lines. After that 'rule' it's a free for all; new ideas are most welcome. The competition is also very unusual in that there is no bar to entering previously published sonnets, providing no payment was received for publication. This helps overcome the difficulty ignored by most competitions of whether appearance on a personal or poetry website constitutes ‘publication’ in the normal sense.”

Entrants can submit as many sonnets as they wish, but entries must be the authors’ original work, without necessarily being new. Poems can be on any subject. For more information and details of how to enter, visit the website www.sonnetcompetition.com
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Contacts:
PR contact: Alastair Campbell 01858 44 55 43 / 07906 349 109
Open Poetry Ltd: Christopher Whitby 01455 852522 /07768 515401

Judges’ Background:
Susan Bassnet is Pro Vice Chancellor and Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Warwick. As author of over 20 books including Sylvia Plath: an Introduction to the Poetry, an experienced judge of other poetry competitions and a contributor to several national newspapers, Susan is well qualified for the position. Don Paterson, the popular Scottish writer and musician, is the first poet to have won the T S Eliot Prize twice; he is also a winner of the Whitbread Poetry Award, amongst many other prizes. Jacqueline Osherow is the author of five books of poetry, making extensive use of the sonnet and other formal structures, and is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Utah.

Expanded biographies can be found at www.sonnetcompetition.com/judges.html