Contest Rules and Information

Important Note: Make sure that your entry meets all the rules for that Month's Contest, listed in the Calendar page and below. Poems that do not, will not be accepted and the entry fee will be applied to future contest entries.

1. Unpublished Poems Only.  The Poetry Society of Colorado's contests consider unpublished poems only. A poem is considered previously published if it has been published in print media or online, as defined in this rule, as follows:

• A. Publish means the intentional issuing, offering or dissemination of the poem to the public.
• B. Publication in print media includes journals, books, chapbooks, newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and other written forms offered to and intended for consumption by the general   public. It does not include private correspondence or written circulation among a restricted access group for the purpose of critique, comment or review.
• C. Publication online includes online journals, galleries, and sites with unrestricted public access, and other online postings offered to and intended for consumption by the general public. It does not include private email, private blogs, postings to restricted access sites, or to restricted access online forums or pages, or other postings which appear behind pay walls or membership walls. It does not include online circulation among a restricted access group for the purpose of critique, comment or review.
• D. Poems presented orally only are not considered published. This applies to poems presented in person at public readings, author presentations, open mics, and otherwise, and to poems presented online at open mics, podcasts, Zoom workshops and otherwise.

2. Artificial Intelligence. PSC is fully aware of the ongoing advancements with AI, and its ability to generate text appearing to be poetry. The moral imperative maintains that poetry submitted to a PSC contest be wholly the original work of the poet and that it be neither partially nor in whole the product of Artificial Intelligence.

3. Previous Winning Poems. No poem which has previously placed first place through honorable mention may be entered in a subsequent PSC contest. This does not apply to the Daisie E. Robinson Sweepstakes.

4. Fee, Number of Poems. A poet may submit up to three original poems for a given contest. The entry fee is $5.00 for each poem submitted.

5. Contest themes shall not be used as a poem title, but may be included in the title (e.g. if the theme is "bridges", no poem entitle "Bridges" shall be accepted, but acceptable titles may include Bridges to Tomorrow, and Five more Bridges, etc.).

6. Eligibility. Only members may submit poetry to Members-Only Contests. Any poet at least 18 years of age may submit poetry to Open Contests.

7. Length.  Poem submission line limit is 40 lines unless otherwise stated, but in no event more than 50 lines.

8. Pen Names. If a poet uses a pen name or pseudonym, the poet must also submit their legal name in order for the submitted poem(s) to be accepted to the contest.

9. Contest Deadlines. All entries must reach the Contest Director by the deadline date. Postmarks will not be considered.

10. Prize Limitation. A contestant cannot win more than two cash prizes for any one contest.

11. Publication Consent. The submission of a poem to a PSC Contest constitutes the author's permission for PSC to post the poem and author to its website, and to include the poem in a PSC Anthology, in the event the poem places. To withdraw permission, the poet must notify the Contest Director in writing before the end of the month in which the winner was announced.

12. Cancellation. A contest may be cancelled if fewer than ten poems are entered in that contest. Entry fees can either be refunded or held over for future month's contests.