2019 Poetry Competition

The Theology & Arts Initiative welcomes all Boston University alumni, students, faculty, and staff to submit original works of poetry for this competition. All poems will be reviewed by a jury, and winners will be publicly announced at the Poetry Competition Reception, April 17, 2019.

Opening date for submissions: January 22, 2019

Closing date for submissions: March 18, 2019 (11:59pm EST)

For full description of rules and details, continue reading…

Poetry Competition Rules

Poems submitted by competition winners will be read or performed at the 2019 Theology and the Arts Poetry Competition Reception, April 17, 2019.

Parameters of the New Work

The winning poets will create a poem on the theme of contemporary religious experience. The poem may be in any format (including but not limited to haiku, sonnet, rap, spoken word, ballad, and cinquain) and must be composed predominately in English.

Eligibility

The 2019 Boston University Theology and the Arts Poetry Competition is open to all Boston University alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Individuals may submit more than one poem to the Theology and the Arts Poetry Competition. However, each poem must be submitted separately through the official online submission form.

There is no entry fee for submissions.

Items to submit

Required:

  1. A completed poetry competition submission form
  2. A digital file containing the text of a new poem written for this competition.

Optional:

  1. If the poem is composed for performance, the poet may submit a digital recording of a performance of the poem for review by the Jury.

Submission guidelines

  • PDF files are preferred for files containing poem text. Microsoft Word format (DOC or DOCX) will also be accepted.
  • Entrants may submit a link to an internet-hosted recording (on YouTube or similar platform) of a poem performance. Such recordings must include a note that the poem was written for the 2019 Boston University Theology and the Arts Poetry Competition.
    • Instead of a link to a poem performance, entrants may choose to upload an audio or video recording file of the poem performance with the entry form. File size is limited to 150MB and must be in MP3 format for audio or AVI, MOV, MP4, MPEG, or WMV format for video.

Deadline and Process for Submissions

All materials must be submitted through the entry form on the Theology and the Arts Initiative website (http://sites.bu.edu/theologyandthearts/) not later than 11:59:59pm EDT on Monday, March 18, 2019. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Judging

The entries will be examined by a Jury chosen by the Theology and the Arts Initiative.

Members of the Jury may not enter the competition. The Jury’s decisions are final and may not be appealed. The School of Theology, at the advice of the Jury, reserves the right not to award any prizes. All judging will be anonymous. Digital copies of the submitted poem should not carry any identifying information – instead, this should all be on the entry form.

The Boston University School of Theology will publicly announce the names of the competition winner and runners-up, if applicable, by April 17, 2019. The names of non-winners will not be made public and will be held in strict confidence. Poets whose works do not win the prize will be informed no later than April 17, 2019.

Competition Prizes

The winner will receive a prize of $250.00. The first-runner up will receive a prize of $150.00. The second-runner up will receive a prize of $100.00. Payment will be in US funds only. Prize monies will be subject to applicable tax laws and it is the responsibility of the winner to properly report the prize. The prizes will be mailed to the winners at the addresses provided on their entry forms on or after the date of the 2019 Theology and the Arts Poetry Competition Reception but not later than May 31, 2019.

Rights

The winning poets will agree to assign the following rights to Boston University prior to the disbursement of prize monies:

  1. Boston University will have exclusive performance rights for the poem through September 30, 2019.
  2. Boston University reserves the right to perform the work in perpetuity.
  3. Boston University will have exclusive recording rights for the poem through September 30, 2019.
  4. Boston University reserves the right to record the work in perpetuity.
  5. Boston University will have the exclusive publication rights for the poem through September 30, 2019.
  6. The winning poets will be asked to provide biographical information and a photograph for publicity purposes. Boston University will have the right to use a poet’s photo, name, and composition title in future Boston University communications without fees.

The following rights are retained by the winning poets:

  1. Copyright ownership
  2. Publication rights after September 30, 2019.

Policy on Plagiarism

The Theology and the Arts Poetry Competition coordinator may evaluate submissions for plagiarism. All student submissions to the Theology and the Arts Poetry Competition are subject to the Boston University School of Theology Academic Code of Conduct. Suspected cases of plagiarism or other academic misconduct will be referred to appropriate university offices.

Disclaimer

Although every effort will be made to protect and safeguard all manuscripts and recordings, neither Boston University nor anyone connected with this contest will assume responsibility for loss, damage, or disclosure. It is strongly recommended that entrants keep the manuscript copies of their poems.

Entrants with further questions are encouraged to contact the competition coordinator Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby (sheasby@bu.edu).