Poesy Wins Prizes
As summer steals upon us – at least in theory – it’s the perfect time to launch our latest competition. While in the past we’ve had you write English prose, compose Latin and Greek prose, compose Latin poetry, and even set Latin poetry to music, we are yet to let you loose on English poetry. So here we go!
How and why do Ancient Greece and Rome inspire you? What fascinates you most about the ancient world? Who are your heroes, from myth, history or literature? Whether you wish to answer these questions directly or indirectly, we challenge you to compose an Ode to – or on – Classics. Although written in English it can be inspired as closely as you wish by an ancient source, be that a Homeric hymn, a Pindaric ode, a Horatian epistle, a Roman-style love elegy – whatever the Muses ask of you.
Yet this is no fancy-free, my-words-are-poetry-because-I-say-so affair: poems must be composed in a recognisable metre and form; regular blank verse is acceptable, but rhyme is preferred. The competition is about composing in the Classical Tradition!
Entries must be shorter than Byron’s ‘The Isles of Greece’ (inserted between stanzas 86 and 87 of Don Juan, Canto 3, 698–784), but longer than Housman’s eight-line ‘The weeping Pleiads wester’ (from Last Poems, 1922). Anything betwixt and between will do just nicely!
Please email entries to competition@antigonejournal.com, along with your name, city of residence, and whether you are in the over 18 or 18-and-under category. The prizes will be as follows:
Over-18s: Winner £300, second £150, third five antiquarian Classics books
18-and-unders: Winner £200, second £100, third five antiquarian Classics books.
The deadline is Sunday 1 September. Follow your inspiration and trust your instincts!
