Call for entries: Poems for Patience poetry competition 2018

Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust is seeking entries for its annual poetry competition. The winning poem will be published and displayed on the Arts Corridor of University Hospital Galway as part of Poems For Patience 2018 and the winner will be invited to read the poem at the launch during Cúirt International Festival of Literature. 

Criteria
Poems entered in the competition should be no more than 30 lines in length. They must be the original work of the entrant. Poems previously published in magazines or poetry collections are eligible. Multiple entries are accepted.

Prize

• The winning poem will be published and displayed on the Arts Corridor of University Hospital Galway as part of Poems For Patience 2018. Poems For Patience is a long-running series which over the past decade has featured poems by leading Irish and international poets such as Seamus Heaney, Philip Schultz, Jane Hirschfield, Michael Longley, Vona Groarke, Tess Gallagher and many more. Following the exhibition, the poems are then displayed in waiting areas throughout Galway University Hospitals.
• The winner will be invited to read the winning poem at the launch of Poems For Patience 2018 during the Cúirt International Festival of Literature in April 2018.
• The winner will be provided with accommodation in Galway if travelling for one night during the Cúirt Festival.
• The winner will be given a copy of their poem printed and framed as a Poem for Patience poster
• The winner will be asked to submit six poems for consideration as a Featured Reader at the Over The Edge: Open Reading series in Galway City Library.

Entry Fee
To enter one poem the fee is €10. If you enter two or more poems the entry fee is €7.50 per poem i.e. to enter two poems it costs €15, to enter three poems €22.50 and so on.

Payment should be made by cheque or postal order payable to Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust.

Entries should be sent by post to Margaret Flannery, Arts Director, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust, Galway University Hospitals, University Hospital, Newcastle Road, Galway. Do not put your name on the poems; please include your contact details on a separate sheet.

Closing Date
Friday 2 March 2018

The Judge 
The competition judge is poet Kevin Higgins, Writer-in-Residence with Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust.

Kevin facilitates poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre and teaches creative writing at Galway Technical Institute and on the Brothers of Charity Away With Words programme. Kevin also teaches poetry on the NUI Galway Summer School programme and on the NUIG BA Creative Writing Connect programme. He is the poetry critic for the Galway Advertiser. Kevin is co-organiser of Over The Edge literary events. His poetry collections include The Boy With No Face (Salmon, 2005), Time Gentlemen, Please (Salmon, 2008), Frightening New Furniture (Salmon, 2010) and The Ghost In The Lobby (Salmon, 2014). Song of Songs 2:0 – New & Selected Poems will be published by Salmon in Spring 2017.

Further Details
Contact Margaret Flanney, Arts Director, Galway University Hospitals Arts Trust: Tel: +353 (0)91 544979 | Email: Margaret.Flannery@hse.ie