CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST 2016 [JULY]

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Words Rhymes & Rhythm (WRR) is calling on Nigerian poets living in Nigeria, Africa and all over the world to enter for the July edition of the BRIGITTE POIRSON POETRY CONTEST (BPPC) SEASON II [2016]. The theme of this edition is UNITED STATES OF AFRICA.

“African nations typically fall toward the bottom of any list measuring small size economic activity, such as income per capita or GDP per capita, despite a wealth of natural resources” — Wikipedia

It is no secret that Africa has most of the nations classified by the UN as least developed – despite the abundance of human and economic potential and despite the fact that six of the world’s ten fastest growing economies of the past decade are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Undoubtedly, African states can make a fresh start and begin an era of prosperity by adopting collaborative and innovative methods to engender economic growth and social progress in the continent – our very own United States of Africa. This coming together, to pool resources and ideas as a continent, is the first and most important thing that needs to be done before the hopes of the people of Africa must be fulfilled.

We therefore call on Nigerian poets to submit poems on this lofty idea of a ‘UNITED STATES OF AFRICA’. Note that this theme is broadened to include Afro-centrism, unity in Africa (African Union), colonialism, neo-colonization, culture, slave trade, democracy, Europeanization, Black Power, etc.

Entries will be received until friday, 29th of July, 2016.

Prize to be won:

The winning poem will be awarded a cash prize of N5000 and a copy of ‘WHAT CAN WORDS DO’ by Kukogho Iruesiri Samson and the BPPC 2015 anthology.
All top 10 poems will be published in the annual BPPC 2016 anthology
All top 10 poets will receive a free copy of the BPPC 2016 anthology
All finalists will be automatically entered for the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize (AJPP) 2016
Authors of the top ten poems will also be awarded a certificate each

Guidelines:

Contestants are invited to submit one poem on the theme ‘UNITED STATES OF AFRICA‘ (broadened to include afrocentrism, unity in Africa (African Union), colonialism, neocolonisation, culture, slave trade, democracy, europeanisation, Black Power, etc).
Submissions should be sent to SUBMISSIONS@WRR.NG
All entries must be the original work of the poet submitting it
No ATTACHMENTS. Please submit poem and other details as body of mail
The CONTESTANT NAME, CONTEST MONTH, & POEM TITLE must be mentioned clearly, as the subject of the e-mail. For example: ‘Abubakar Nnamdi Adekunle, BPPC July, ‘OUR USA’
The maximum length of the poem should be one page, i.e. 30 lines (plus the title). Poems exceeding this length will be disqualified.
Authors must provide their full names and Facebook ID [for identification] and a 50-100 word biography in the body of the e-mail
Submission deadline is 11:59 PM FRIDAY July 29, 2016.

Note that:

Poems containing profanity, racism or vulgarity will be automatically disqualified
The poems will be judged based on their artistic quality and creativity
The judges’ decision is final and under no circumstances will they enter into any correspondence with entrants regarding their decisions
The copyright of each submission remains with its owner but we retain the right to publish ALL and ANY entry in the annual BPPC anthology
The contests will be held on monthly from February – September 2016
Nigerians resident in any part of the world are eligible
No entry fee required
Past winners may enter for the competition, but a poet can only one once in a calendar year (Season). If a past winner makes the TOP 10, the poems will ONLY be awarded a certificate and be featured in the anthology.

A civil engineer, OGEDENGBE Tolulope Impact, won the JUNE 2016 edition of the contest.

The overall winner of the Season II (from February to September), will be awarded the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize (AJPP) 2016 in October 2016 at the WRR Literary Festival. AJPP 2015 was won by Showunmi Olawale Michael.