Oxford's Twin Cities competition

1. The Oxford Twin Cities Poetry Competition 2023 (the “Competition”) is organised by Oxford City Council and the Poetry Centre of Oxford Brookes University (“OBU”).
2. The competition is open to anyone living in Oxfordshire or Oxford’s twin cities unless excluded by these Rules. By entering the Competition, you confirm that you understand and agree to accept these Rules.
3. You do not have to be a published poet to enter.
4. The closing date of the competition is 09:00 BST/22:00 GMT on Friday 5th May 2023. The competition opens for entries at 01:00 (UK time) Monday 6 March 2023.
5. There are 3 age categories in the Competition i) 11 year olds and under ii) 12-16 year olds and iii) Over 16 years.  There is one prompt: ‘Oxford’s Twin Cities.’ A winner and runner-up will be selected from Oxfordshire and a winner and runner-up will be selected from poets who submit from Oxford’s twin cities.
6. A single entrant can enter a maximum of three poems.
7. Entries will not be returned, so please keep a copy.
8. Under no circumstances can alterations be made to poems once entered.
9. Current direct or indirect Oxford City Council and their spouses/partners are not eligible to enter; neither are any current or former Competition judges.
10. Oxford City Council and OBU cannot accept any responsibility for any damage, loss, injury or disappointment suffered by any entrant entering the Competition.
11. Oxford City Council and OBU reserves the right both to cancel the Competition and to amend these Rules where it is deemed necessary, or to account for circumstances beyond Oxford City Council/OBU’s control. Any notice of cancellation or changes to the Rules will be posted on the Poetry Centre website.
12. In the event of any dispute regarding these Rules or any other matter relating to the Competition, the decision of Oxford City Council/OBU shall be final and no correspondence or discussion shall be entered into.
13. Entries not complying with the Competition Rules will be disqualified, as will entrants in breach of the Rules.
14. Entrants must not approach or attempt to influence any judge or member of Oxford City Council/OBU staff over Competition matters.
15. The Competition Rules will be governed by English law and any dispute will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

1. All entries are judged anonymously and the poet’s name must not appear on the poem itself. However, you must give your real name as part of your submission, even if you prefer that your work is published under a pseudonym. Your real name should be in the online form only and not in the attached poem.
2. All poems must have a title and must not exceed 50 lines in length (excluding title).
3. Entries should be on the prompt/theme of ‘Oxford’s Twin Cities.’
4. Poems must be the original work of the entrant.
5. Entries must not have been published in print, on websites, public areas of social networking sites, broadcast, have featured among the winners of another competition or be submitted elsewhere for consideration.
6. Poems must be written primarily in English, though a few words or phrases in another language or languages can be included.
7. Entrants may submit poems translated into English providing the source text is their own original work and has not been published in print, on websites, public areas of social networking sites, broadcast, featured among the winners of another competition or be submitted elsewhere for consideration.

1. Your information must be submitted to the Competition’s online form.
2. Poets can then enter up to 3 poems. Poems should be submitted to the competition address: internationallinks@oxford.gov.uk. Please do not include your name on the poetry files. To keep the judging fair, entries need to be anonymous.
3. If you have questions about the competition, please consult our Frequently Asked Questions (below). If your question isn’t answered there, contact us at: internationallinks@oxford.gov.uk

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuTjkkSzA1ZuhpxcAhhhXigWnKb-Qf01k_2e4zmWVZi4FPgQ/viewform

1. Entry is free

1. There will be a total of 12 prizes. There will be a winning prize for the prompt in each age category and a runner up prize for the prompt within each age category for people living in Oxfordshire. There will also be a winning prize for the prompt in each age category and a runner up prize for the prompt within each age category for people living in any of Oxford’s twin cities.
2. Prize winners will be notified after the judges selections are announced.
3. No poet may win more than one prize.
4. Oxford City Council/OBU reserves the right, in conjunction with the Competition judges, not to award the prizes, or to reduce or split the prizes if, in their opinion, such action is justified for any reason.

1. Prize-winners will be notified from June and invited to a virtual/in-person or hybrid award ceremony on a date to be given in the notification and publicly announced on the Poetry Competition website: https://www.brookes.ac.uk/research/units/hss/centres/poetry-centre/

1. Prizewinning poems will appear in electronic format on the OBU website and may be printed in publications and journals hosted by Oxford City Council/OBU or in other electronic forms. Shortlisted poems will be listed by author name and title on the OBU website. The copyright in each poem submitted remains with the author but prize-winning and shortlisted entrants grant Oxford City Council/OBU a non-exclusive, worldwide licence over each entry submitted for the duration of the Competition (which is deemed to end on 1 June 2024), and for publicity purposes (including in print and electronic publications and in translation) thereafter.
2. Entrants not selected for prizes or shortlisted are free to submit poems entered into the Competition for consideration elsewhere (i.e. to other competitions or for publication) after the winners are announced in May 2023.