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The Stoke Poges Society
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Thomas Gray Anniversary – Poetry Competition
Theme: ‘Inspired by the Elegy’
!The Stoke Poges Society is organising three annual poetry competitions in the run-up to
the tercentenary of Gray’s birth in 2016.
!Judges
!For the 2014 competition, senior entries will be judged by local poet David Gwilym
Anthony, whose latest poetry collection, Passing through the Woods, was published by
Troubador Publishing in 2012.
!Junior entries will be judged by Roger Askew, Chairman of The Stoke Poges Society.
!General Rules
! 1. The closing date is midnight, 30 April 2014.
2. Entries can be made online via www.thomasgray2016.org
3. Entries can also be sent to the following address:
The Stoke Poges Society, c/o The Firs, Farthing Green Lane, Stoke Poges,
Bucks, SL2 4JQ.
4. Online entries will receive confirmation of receipt by email.
5. Online payment can be made by PayPal.
6. Cheques should be made payable to The Stoke Poges Society.
7. There is no limit to the number of entries a single entrant can make provided the
appropriate fee is paid.
8. If you would like confirmation of postal entry receipt, please enclose a stamped
addressed envelope.
9. The judges’ decision is final and neither the judges nor the Stoke Poges Society
will enter into any correspondence.
!Rules: Poems
! 1. Poems submitted should have been inspired in some way by a reading of
Thomas Gray’s Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.
2. All entries will be considered anonymously by the judges.
3. Please make sure your name and contact details are given separately from your
poem.
4. Poems must be metrical, have a title and not exceed 24 lines.
5. Poems must be the original work of the entrant.
6. Previously published poems are acceptable. Please state when and where
published in a separate note.
7. Postal entries should be typed in black ink on A4 paper.
8. Entries should be written in English.
9. Entries will not be returned.
10. Under no circumstances can alterations be made to poems once entered.
!Senior Class
! 1. This class is open to anyone aged 15 years or over on date of submission.
2. Each entry must be accompanied by a fee of £5 for the first and £3 for subsequent
poems.
3. Three prizes will be awarded of £250, £100 and £60. In addition there will be up to
three honourable mentions awarded £30.
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Junior Class
! 1. This class is open to anyone aged 14 years or under on date of submission.
2. Each entry must be accompanied by a fee of £2.50 for the first entry and £1.50 for
subsequent poems.
3. Three prizes will be awarded of £125, £50, and £30.
!Rules: Winners
! 1. Result will be announced 5 August 2014 – the anniversary of Thomas Gray’s burial
in St Giles’ Churchyard.
2. Copyright of each poem remains with the author but winners grant the Stoke
Poges Society the right to publish their poem e.g. on its website during the three
years 2014-16.