‘A Quiet Passion’ Instagram Poetry Competition

The story of 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson is brought to vivid life in this sensitive biopic by director Terence Davies, which explores her early days as a young schoolgirl, through to her later years as a recluse. Now recognised as the genius author of some of the most important verse in American literature, the poet was virtually unknown in her lifetime. A Quiet Passion details every facet of Dickinson’s character: her wit, her humour and the intimate, close-knit relationship she had with her family.

Read the Guardian’s review of the film and watch the trailer below:

Soda Pictures distributed Paterson, the inspiration for the poetry competition we ran together last year. The poems you wrote for that competition were so great (here they are) that we’re going to run another.

Inspired by the film, and a couple of books that are going round the Poetry School office at the moment (Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey and Emily Dickinson’s Envelope Poems), here’s our Emily Dickinson Instagram Poetry Competition.

We want to see poems which use the concentrated visual qualities of an Instagram post to deliver a punch as strong as an Emily Dickinson line. You can use text images, photos of written or typed text, or some other creative or crafty way with words. Think about how ED herself might have used an Instagram account – ‘Forever is composed of nows’ – scrolling slowly through her feed.

We’re inviting entries – up to five poems per poet – and you have the chance to win free cinema tickets, A Quiet Passion goodies, and a £170 voucher towards Poetry School courses. Enter by posting on Instagram with #aquietpassionpoetrycompetition and tagging @thepoetryschool and @sodapicturesuk.

In need of Insta-inspiration? Here are some good places to look:

http://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/best-poets-on-instagram

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/26/instagram-poets-society-social-media-phenomenon

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicadionne/15-amazing-poets-you-should-be-following-on-instag-1nvh5

https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/emilydickinson/

The deadline for entries is midnight on 27 March.

Please read the competition rules carefully before submitting, good luck, and do go and see the film!

Competition Rules

Rules: General

• This competition is free to enter. Poems must be submitted via Instagram.
• Entrants may submit up to five poems.
• The competition is open to anyone based in the UK and aged 18 or over at the time of entering.
• The closing date of the competition is midnight (UK time), 27 March 2017.
• All entries will be considered by the judges.
• Judges will be drawn from Poetry School and Soda Pictures staff.
• The competition organisers reserve the right to change the judging panel without notice and not to award prizes if, in the judges’ opinion, such an action is justified. The judges’ decision is final.
• No current employee or Trustee of the Poetry School or Soda Pictures is eligible to enter competition.
• By entering you give permission for the Poetry School and Soda Pictures to contact you.

Rules: Poems

• The competition is open to all varieties of original Instagram poetry – graphic, illustrated, crafted etc.
• Post your poem/s in your own Instagram feed, tagged with @thepoetryschool, @sodapictures and #aquietpassionpoetrycompetition
• Poems must be the original work of the entrant: translations and versions are not eligible.
• Entries must not have been posted, published, self-published, published on a website, broadcast or featured among the winners in another competition.
• Entries must be written in English.
• The copyright of each poem remains with the author. However, authors of the winning poems, by entering the competition, grant the Poetry School & Soda Pictures the right to publish and/or broadcast their poem online and in print.

Rules: Winners

• The first Prize is a £170 Voucher towards the cost of a Poetry School course, and a pair of tickets to see A Quiet Passion. Three second Prizes of pairs of A Quiet Passion tickets will also be awarded. At the Poetry School’s and Soda Pictures’ discretion, Poetry School and A Quiet Passion merchandise and publicity will be awarded to runners up.
• Prizewinners will be notified by 31 March 2017. All winners will be required to provide a biography and photograph.
• Prizewinners will have to provide their postal address upon notification of winning to receive their prizes.
• Soda Pictures will endeavor to arrange free film tickets for the Prizewinners to be redeemed at selected UK cinema screenings of A Quiet Passion, as close to the Prizewinner’s address as possible. Tickets cannot be exchanged for money. The Organisers cannot offer travel expenses or other costs incurred getting to the film screening. The Organisers cannot accept responsibility for the Prizewinner being unable to attend for any reason.
• The Poetry School offers a voucher to the first placed Prizewinner valued at £170 to be put towards course fees only. The voucher cannot be exchanged for money. Places on Poetry School courses will be subject to availability. The voucher can be redeemed on online or face-to-face courses. The voucher will be valid for 12 months from notification of winning.

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