Please note that the definition of "traditional verse" is a very loose one. Any type of verse published in Margaret's book SONG OF THE WAYWARD WIND and Other Poems qualifies. This includes free verse, as well as sonnets, haiku, odes, comic and humorous verse, plus just about all other forms except prose poems and storoems. (Clicking the above link will take you to Amazon for further information).

Here is a quick rundown of the rules for the Margaret Reid Prize:

Total prize money of $5,350 includes a First Prize of $2,000, a Second Prize of $1,000 and a Third Prize of $500. There are 15 cash prizes in all.

Entry fee is $7 for every 25 lines (or part thereof). THERE IS NO LINE LIMIT.

THERE ARE ALSO NO LIMITS ON THE NUMBER OF POEMS YOU MAY SUBMIT.

We will accept both unpublished verse and published verse (so long as you are able to give us permission to publish your winning poem on the Winning Writers website). Free print publication will also be available in our next printed anthology, but winners are not obliged to accept this offer.

Everyone knows that anthologies such as our Sailing in the Mist of Time serve as a showcase for winning and commended entries. But few realize that such anthologies are essential reading (or at least perusing) for intending contestants.

If you are going to submit an entry to a poetry contest, surely the first thing you need to know (before wasting your time and your money) is exactly what sort of a poetry contest it is. For example, the Bridport Prize is one of the world's most prestigious and richest poetry contests, open to all writers in English. It annually attracts more than 10,000 entries. Yet I'd be absolutely astonished if more than five hundred entrants were aware of the kind of poetry the judges for the Bridport Prize always favor. You could find out easily enough by glancing through previous winning and commended entries. But few people bother to do so. As a result, most contestants are totally unaware that the Bridport Prize is a contest that seeks the kind of poetry currently favored in academic circles. Exclusively! 

I go into this question in greater detail in my book, Write Ways to WIN WRITING CONTESTS: How To Join the Winners' Circle for Prose and Poetry Awards, NEW EXPANDED EDITION   

By way of contrast, just about all categories and genres of verse are acceptable for both the Margaret Reid and Tom Howard Contests (with the one exception that Margaret will not accept prose poems or storoems). If you wish to check out our latest anthology, "Sailing in the Mist of Time", this beautifully printed, large format book which usually retails for $16.50, is still being vigorously promoted at Amazon and other stores for only $9.95. You'll find a link to the list of selected poets and their works at http://poetrycontests.exactpages.com . Only $9.95 at Amazon: SAILING IN THE MIST OF TIME: Fifty Award-Winning Poems (Take no notice of Amazon's "fifty". That was the sub-title of a previous edition. This new, illustrated edition of the anthology which Amazon and other stores are selling, actually includes no less than 106 poems, spread over 194 pages!) 

You'll find full details for both poetry contests at http://margaretreid.exactpages.com OR http://www.poetrycontests.exactpages.com

For the Margaret Reid Prize only, you can click http://www.geocities.com/rastar330

For the Tom Howard Contest only: http://tomhowardpoetry.bravepages.com OR http://www.geocities.com/rastar330/poetry.htm

FORMATTING: We have no special rules regarding the formatting of your work. Basically, you can please yourself. As email is not kind to formatting, the judges disregard formatting when judging submissions. In any case, please be aware that many of the changes in formatting occur only in the copy that is emailed back to you for confirmation. 

If you have a few lines or a few words that should be placed in Italics, you can note these facts in the Comments box.

And of course you can also submit your poem as an attachment. Or post it to Winning Writers through the regular mail.

Regarding the prose contest which closed on March 31, the judges have just about finished working their way steadily through a large number of last-minute entries. Results will be announced in this Newsletter and on appropriate websites on September 15.