1. The Arvon International Poetry Competition is open to people all over the world.

2. The Competition is organised by, and on behalf of, The Arvon Foundation. It is open to anyone, except those working for The Arvon Foundation, Telegraph Media Group and Classic FM.

3. No competitor may win more than one of the main prizes, although the Ted Hughes Environmental Poetry Prize could be won by a competitor who has also won another prize.

4. There is no age restriction.

ADJUDICATION AND PRIZES

5. The organisers reserve the right to change the panel of judges without notice, or to appoint more judges.

6. The decision of the judges will be final and the organisers will not enter into any correspondence about the results. The promoter reserves the right in its absolute discretion not to award any prize or prizes in the event that there are insufficient entries or the entries are not considered by the judges to be of a suitable standard.

7. There will be a first prize of £5,000, a second prize of £2,500, a third prize of £1,000 and three prizes of £500 each. A Ted Hughes Environmental Poetry Prize of £1000 and Ted Hughes publications is also being offered. All the winning poems and any poems the judges may wish to select for special commendation will be published in a Competition Anthology, which will be available to purchase from 15th October 2008.

8. The winners will be notified by 1st October 2008. There will be a reception for all prizewinners on a date to be confirmed.

ENTRIES

9. All entries for the competition must arrive no later than 5pm on 15th August 2008. We can accept entries online and through the post, accompanied by a valid entry form.

10. Each entry must be a poem, of any length, on any theme, written in the English language.

11. Each poem must be the original work of the author and not a copy nor a substantial copy of any work and it must not have been previously published or broadcast, or have won a prize in any other competition.

12. Competitors may submit as many poems as they wish provided that each poem is accompanied by an entry fee of £6 (pounds sterling).

13. The entry fee must be paid for either with a credit or debit card, or a cheque drawn on a bank in the UK. All credit and debit cards will be debited with UK pound sterling entry fees. Sterling cheques must be made payable to The Arvon Foundation. Arvon can not accept dollar or euro cheques. Entries can be submitted and paid for online.

14. Receipt of entry will not be acknowledged unless, for competitors resident in the United Kingdom, a separate self-addressed and stamped envelope marked ‘Receipt of Entry’ is enclosed with the entry or, for competitors resident outside the United Kingdom, a separate self-addressed envelope marked ‘Receipt of Entry’ is enclosed with the entry and an extra £1.00 (pounds sterling) for postage is added to the entry fee. Please note this is not a receipt of payment.

15. Manuscripts will not be returned.

16. The names of the winners will be posted on the Arvon Foundation website on 15th October 2008.

17. The world-wide copyright of each prize-winning poem, and of any other poems selected by the judges for special commendation, will remain with the author, but The Arvon Foundation and the Telegraph Media Group shall have the unrestricted right to read the poem on television, radio or the stage, or to publish it in whole or in part at the time of the prize–giving, or at any time up to twelve months after the prize–giving.

18. All entrants shall be deemed to have read and accepted all the conditions of entry for The Arvon International Poetry Competition 2008.

FORMAT OF ENTRIES SUBMITTED BY POST

19. Please provide two copies of each poem submitted on paper.

20. Entries will be judged without the panel of judges knowing the identity of the competitors. The competitor’s name or other identification must not be typed or written on manuscripts.

21. The entries must be attached to an entry form. One entry form covers multiple entries.

22. Poems must be typed on one side only of A4 (i.e. not double sided).

23. Do not use staples or paper clips.

ENTRIES SUBMITTED ONLINE

24. Arvon takes no responsibility for any technical failure preventing entries submitted online from entering the competition. In the event of a fee being paid but entry not being made due to technical failure, Arvon’s liability will be limited to the entry fee paid.

25. It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that they complete the online submission process in full, along with any payment process. Correctly submitted entries will be acknowledged by email.

26. Any correspondence concerning an entry made online will be made by email. It is the entrant’s responsibility to provide correct email and other contact details and Arvon will not be liable for any loss caused by failure to receive messages sent to the address given by the entrant.

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