“Select, all ye who write, a subject fit,
A subject not too mighty for your wit!
Before you lay your shoulders to the wheel,
Weigh well their strength, and all their weakness feel!”
First Prize:
$100. Publication in the Society’s website and The Society of Classical Poets Journal.
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Submission Fee:
None.
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Submit:
Email translations to submissions@classicalpoets.org with the subject line “Translation Competition.” Send one to three translations, not exceeding a total of 108 lines. Translated poetry should be from the Romantic period or earlier. Translations should be metered. Include the poem in its original language. Rhyme and other traditional techniques are encouraged as well, but not required. (To learn how to write poetry with meter, see a brief beginner’s guide on common iambic meter here or a more elaborate beginner’s guide to many kinds of meter here.)
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Deadline:
December 31, 2021, 11:59 p.m. EST. Winners announced February 1, 2022 on our e-Newsletter and on the Society’s homepage.
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Judges:
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Who May Participate?
Anyone from any country of any background. If you are outside the United States, you would need to have a PayPal account to receive the prize money should you win First Place.
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Additional Details
The translation should be done in 2021. It may be previously published. Simultaneous submissions are accepted.
Past First Place winners and the Society’s executive staff and editors are prohibited from participating.
You do not have to be a Member of the Society to participate.
You will retain ownership of your submitted translation. By submitting it to the Society for publication or for inclusion in the contest, should it rank among winners or receive an honorable mention, you give the Society permission to publish it online on this website, in the Society of Classical Poets Journal, and in publications promoting the SCP’s mission or this annual contest, but the SCP would not be able to sell your individual translation on its own or have any further rights over it beyond these purposes. You could publish it anywhere else or sell it to any publication as desired.
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Past Winners
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
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Poetry Writing Resources
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- A Simple Guide to Forms with Example Poems from the Society of Classical Poets
- “Freeware Prosody” by Expansive Poetry Online
- How to Write Classical Poetry by the Society of Classical Poets
- “The Hard Edges of a Poem” by Joseph S. Salemi
- The Prosody Handbook: A Guide to Poetic Form by Robert Beum and Karl Shapiro
- Writing Metrical Poetry by William Baer
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