2023 NFSPS ANNUAL POETRY CONTESTS RULES
 Postal Service and Online Submissions
(Read carefully. Any violation will disqualify entry.)
 

1. Any poem submitted must:

a. Be the original work of the contestant, unpublished in any form, including digitally or placed on exhibition, and not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere. (Award will be recalled if a winning poem is found to be in violation of rules before publication in the NFSPS anthology of prize poems, and lower prizes and honorable mentions will move up in classification.)

b. Be written in English, be titled, unless the poem is a form that is supposed to be untitled (e.g. haiku, lune, etc.).

c. Have a 40 line limit for all contests not stating line limit. Line count includes every line, both printed and blank. A one line title and its following space is not counted in the line limit. Specific forms (e.g. rondeau, sonnet, villanelle, etc.) should follow required format spacing and line limits.

d. Be typed, photocopied or computer generated (not handwritten or hand printed) and without illustrations.

2. Poets give NFSPS exclusive first printing rights to all poems entered in the NFSPS annual contests. Poems winning a cash prize of $15 or more will be printed in the NFSPS prize poems anthology, Encore, at the discretion of the Editor. The Editor reserves the right to alter line breaks in poems having more than 50 characters per line, including punctuation marks and spaces. Printing rights revert to the poet after the anthology is published (approx. August of 2023). All prize winners will be notified,
and others may obtain a list of winners in August 2023 by sending $1 and a #10 SASE to:

Julie Cummings Strophes Editor
9428 Fallen Rock Road,
Conifer, CO 80433-4007

Submitted poems will not be returned, poets should retain copies.

3. An eligible poem may not be withdrawn after submission. No simultaneous submissions.

4. Except as indicated in Contest 1 – NFSPS Founders Award, contestants may submit only one entry in any contest, and may not submit the same poem in any other contest.

5. Enclosed check or money order must be made payable to NFSPS, Inc. (initials are sufficient) rather than to any individual.

a. Non-members may enter most contests at $1 each (except $10 for each entry in Contest 1 – NFSPS Founders Award). Non-members may not enter contests marked with an asterisk (*) and which are designated members only.

b. Members may enter up to 10 contests for $1 per poem or $10 total for entry in more than 10 contests (except for Contest 1 – NFSPS Founders Award which is $5 per poem).

c. Entrants from outside the U.S. must send checks drawn on U.S. banks or branches, payable in U.S. Funds, or send U.S. Currency.

6. First Prize winner in Contest 1 – NFSPS Founders Award is not eligible to enter that contest the following year (NFSPS Founders Award only).

7. Judges will be selected by NFSPS, Inc. No ties will be awarded, and the decisions of the judges will be final.

8.. When to submit:
a. Start date: entries must not be postmarked before January 1, 2023.
b. Deadline: entries must be postmarked by March 15, 2023.

9. Individuals are “Members Only” eligible if a paid-up member of an NFSPS state society and listed in that society’s membership roll. State societies must remit their annual dues by January 15, 2023, and update their membership
 information as required by March 15, 2023. Dues and membership list must be sent to:

Linda Harris, NFSPS Treasurer
49512 SE Weber Road,
Sandy, OR 97055-7425

Update info may be sent via e-mail: Treasurer@NFSPS.com

10. How to submit poems via USPS:
a. Send two copies of the poem on 8.5” X 11” white paper (no onion skin or tissue), in black ink, single-spaced. If the poem requires more than one page, staple together at the top left corner all pages of each copy.

b. On both copies, place number and name of contest in upper left corner.

c. On second copy only, put name, address, phone number, and e-mail address of the poet, state poetry society membership or “Non-member of NFSPS” in upper right corner. If a poem requires more than one page, number pages also on
upper right corner (both copies).

d. Separate originals from duplicates and stack in numerical order (1 – 50) with originals on top. Count them.

e. Include an 8.5 X 11 cover sheet with poet's name, address, phone number, e-mail address (if available), and state society membership (or “Non-member of NFSPS”). List on the cover sheet the category number(s) and the poem title(s) of
each contest you are entering. List the total number of poems sent. Do NOT staple the cover sheet to entries or to entry fee.

f. Mail all entries at one time, unfolded, in a large envelope, including the cover sheet and entry fee. Mail to the Contest Chair by First Class, Priority Mail, or any form of delivery that does NOT require a signature upon receipt.

Mail contest entries to:

2023 Contest Chair
5858 Pintail Way,
rederick, CO. 80504-9668

NFSPS, Inc. will not assume mailing costs and will not be responsible for any entries lost or delayed in the mail.

11. You may also enter via Submittable.com. Please read and follow the rules on Submittable as they are slightly different. Through Submittable there are two separate entry fee transactions: one for Category #1 and one for
Categories #2 through #50. If entering Category #1 plus any other Category, there will be two payment forms, pay attention to your payment details. Failure to remit entry fees timely (by March 15, 2023) will result in a disqualified submission.

NOTE: Amazon does not permit the publication of material that contains vulgar language because it is not suitable to minors. The printed edition of Encore will include the poetry of school-aged individuals and published via Amazon.
Entries which violate this standard will be disqualified.