This year is the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's death, and like other Shakespeare lovers worldwide, the Shakespeare Club of Western Australia plans a celebration of the bard's life.
We are going to commemorate with a sonnet-writing competition for adults and secondary school students, open to would-be writers and experienced poets alike.
For the rundown visit their website - here!
Prizes
Student Category: The Competition is open to any student of any secondary school in Western Australia. 1st prize: $300. 2nd Prize: $200: 3rd Prize: $100
Adult Category: The Competition is open to any Australian Resident (excepting members of the Shakespeare Club of WA): 1st Prize: $300; 2nd Prize: $200; 3rd Prize: $100
Entrants will be invited to attend the Awards Ceremony in Perth.
Competition Rules
1. Sonnet entries must be accompanied by an Entry Form and must be submitted by post to Shakespeare Club of WA, PO Box 100, Mt Hawthorn, WA 6915.
2. In the Student Category there is an entry fee of $5 per sonnet entry. In the Adult Category the entry fee is $10 per sonnet entry. Payment may be made by cheque, Money Order or by Bank Transfer. Entries received without payment will be excluded from the Competition. Entry fees are not refundable.
3. Entrants may submit more than one but no more than three sonnet entries. Each entry must be on a separate sheet of paper and must not include any information that might identify the entrant.
4. Deadline: All entries must be received by September 23, 2016. Entries received after that date will not be accepted.
5. The identity of entrants will not be known by the Panel of Judges. The decision of the Panel of Judges will be final. The names of Panel of Judges will not be revealed before the Prizes are awarded.
6. The Composition Guidelines form part of the Competition Rules. By entering the Competition, entrants agree to the Competition Rules.
7. The Shakespeare Club of Western Australia reserves the right to publish any entry. Winners will be announced online at: www.perthshakespeareclub.blogspot.com.au.Prizewinners agree to allow their names to be published; at the Awards Ceremony photographs may be taken for publication.
Composition Guidelines
1. The Sonnet should be fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter with a traditional Shakespearean sonnet rhyming scheme. Modern English vocabulary is acceptable; use of ‘Shakespearean’ 'thee' and 'thou' is not required.
2. The Sonnet’s first quatrain should introduce a Western Australian subject or theme in a literary, social, historical, political, environmental, etc. context.
3. The Sonnet should have three quatrains, developing or expanding the main subject; a different idea may be expressed in each quatrain, each growing out of the one preceding it.
4. The final rhymed couplet should ‘tie up’ or conclude the argument or subject matter of the Sonnet.
5. The Sonnet should have a title.