1. Students must be in school, i.e. public, private or home school or in-school equivalent, i.e.GED or social program equivalent.  Students must live in the greater Saint John area from either Saint John, Welsford, Grand Bay-Westfield, Renforth, Rothesay, Quispamsis, Hampton, St. Martins or anywhere in between.

 

2.  The contest is open to all students from grade 3 to 12 (or equivalent) within three categories:  Grades 3-5, grades 6-8 or grades 9-12 with a result of three finalists in each category.

 

3.  Individual students can enter their poems on their own, with parents' or other adult's help or through teachers of the area organizing submissions by classroom.

 

4.  All entries must be to the original work of the student and permission to publish is given to the JP Collins Celtic Festival for archival purposes.

 

5. The poets chosen as finalists also win the opportunity to recite their poem publicly at the JP Collins All-Ages Ceili on May 5, 2018 at the Kent Theatre, 24 Coburg St, Saint John at 7:30pm. A free ticket to this event will be provided for each finalist and their accompanying adult.

 

6.  The poems cannot exceed 21 lines of text and must be appropriate for recitation or declaiming aloud.  Blank lines between verse or stanza are not counted.

 

7.  The work must be single spaced to be submitted.

 

8.  Only one entry per student is permitted per year.

 

9.  A required TOPIC of the poem can be found on this page - please choose one. It is to be that of the Irish immigrant experience of leaving Ireland and their making their way to Saint John, NB between 1845 and 1851. (This is when New Brunswick experienced an influx of Irish immigrants, i.e. the life of families or individual women, children and men immigrants, which was due to the failed potato crop in Ireland). You may also choose to write about JP Collins himself, whom is the namesake of this festival or perhaps choose to write a poem about a ghost of your own creation.

 

SUGGESTIONS:  This may include life just before leaving Ireland, leaving their homes and homeland, being on the sea and the conditions of voyage, losing beloved ties with people, pets or their homeland, their new arrival in Saint John Harbour, quarantine (for the sick and dying) at Partridge Island, the nature of coming to a new land and a new life, etc.

 

10.  You must submit your poem for adjudication on or before 12:00 midnight on March 17th, 2018 by email [collinsfest2018@gmail.com] using POETRY OUT LOUD as your subject line OR submit here on this page in the space provided using POETRY OUT LOUD as the subject line.