A Frome-based charity has launched a poetry competition with £2,000 in prize money, and the proceeds will go towards building a new school in Kenya.
Educating Kenyan Orphans, based in Frome, is offering £1,000 in cash to the winner of the poetry competition, which is to be judged by popular comedian and poet John Hegley.
John Hegley is a regular sell-out at The Edinburgh Festival and has performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival, the USA Comedy Festival in Aspen, and on BBC Radio 4’s Hearing With Hegley. He is widely known as one of the country’s most innovative comic poets with several best-selling volumes of poetry to his name.
Melanie Moulding, a trustee to the charity said, “With the proceeds made from the entries we are hoping to start building a school in Mochenwa, Kenya, for the orphaned and destitute children in the area.
“Entrants can be assured that the entry payment goes straight to the objectives of the charity. The primary aim of the charity is to advance the education of the children who have been orphaned mostly by AIDS and those who live in poverty.
“These children in Mochenwa, Kenya, are being educated in derelict buildings.”
The competition winner will receive £1,000, second prize will be £500, third prize will be £300, and fourth prize will be £200.
John Hegley will be awarding the prizes for the four best poems at the Frome Festival on July 17th at the Rook Lane Chapel.
Competition rules
The competition is open to anyone aged 17 or over. Poems must not exceed 30 lines (not including title). Entries must be in English. Entries can be on any subject. The name of the poet must not appear on the manuscript. All poems are judged anonymously. Each poem must be given a title. Poems must not have been previously published. Poems must be the original work of the author. There is no restriction on the number of poems submitted by each applicant. Poems may not be altered after they have been submitted. Poems must be typed only on one side of A4 paper. No trustees or relatives of trustees may enter the competition. Prize winners who wish to attend the reading by John Hegley must find their own way to Frome, and arrange accommodation if required.
Entry forms can be found on line at http://educatingkenyanorphans.co.uk or send a stamped addressed envelop to: The Organiser, EKO Poetry Competition, Glen View, Church Street, Coleford, Radstock, Somerset, BA35LZ, for a postal entry form.
