[John Whitworth]

I hope I am allowed to do this, which is to suggest you gals and guys enter this poetry competition. For two reasons: 1. They are short of entries and need the money. This also means that people as sklled as you have an excellent chance of winning. 2. The judge.

31st January is the closing date. Look it up on the net. I've entered already so this is very selfless of me.

[Chris O'Carroll]

It looks as if they accept only postal entries, and you have to have a British bank account to pay the entry fee. I can't find any mention of an online submission and payment option. But I'd be happy to learn that I'm mistaken about that.

[John Whitworth]

I have put this to a higher authority, Chris.

[Brian Allgar]

I was amused to see this in one of the competitions on the PoetryKit site:

Accepting poetry of any style, on any subject, length 6 to 50 lines, blank lines included. Slightly longer poems will be accepted.

Err ... then why not specify the slightly longer maximum length?

[John Whitworth]

I think they are simply ruling out the green ink epics which exist I assure you. Perhaps 'any length that isn't bloody ridiculous'. I would say 'any poems you can get on one side of A4 which I can read without a magnifying glass.'

[John Whitworth]

This is the link to 'Torriano set up in poetry pf shop' for all you furriners out there who want some of their English gold.

www.poetrypf.co.uk/shop.php?sort=ur#tor

I hope that works. Go in and win.

[Ann Drysdale]

No - it doesn't, but you might have better luck with this one

PAY BY PAY PAL

If you would like to pay via Pay Pal follow the link below: (NB Scroll down to the last item) enter the number of £ to pay into the Quantity field and follow the directions from there. NB Please note the Transaction ID from PayPal along with your entry details.

www.poetrypf.co.uk/shop.php?sort=ur#tor

and here's the rest of the entry form.

Torriano Poetry Competition – Closing date 31st January, 2013
For poems of up to 40 lines.
A separate sheet of A4 should contain the titles of poems, name and email or postal address and phone number of entrant.
Adjudicator: Ann Drysdale. Prizes First £250 Second £150 Third £75. Winning poets will be offered feature readings at the adjudication on Sunday, 3rd M\arch 2013 at Torriano Meeting House, 99 Torriano Avenue, Kentish Town, London NW5 2RX
Entry fees: £3 one poem, £5 for two, £10 for five. No translations. Cheques payable to the Torriano Support Fund.
Entries to: Pat Griffin, 4 Cundishall Close, Whitstable, Kent CT5 4DA.
Email: june.english@btinternet.com

Winners will be notified by 28th February 2013.

[Chris O'Carroll]

Thanks, John and Ann. If I understand correctly, we can pay the entry fee online, but we still have to submit poems via post, not email. Is that correct? And do we get a dispensation for American "letter size" pages that don't have exactly the same dimensions as A4 sheets?

[Ann Drysdale]

I have just spoken to the organiser, whose name (and email) are on the entry form.

june.english@btinternet.com

You Merkins can send entries as unidentified (Word) attachments, with your details in the body of an email, to that address. Please put Torriano Competition in the subject line and quote your PayPal transaction number.

Or you can send them by post - quoting the Paypal number in your covering "letter". Entries postmarked by the closing date will be accepted, even if they arrive a day or two after.

This has all been set up in a hurry, so I apologise if it looks like a dog's breakfast.

ps. The named judge will read ALL entries.

[Brian Allgar]

ps. The named judge will read ALL entries.

That's good to know, Ann!

(Or is it? It means that if I don't get anywhere, I can't blame it on some underling who filtered me out ...)

I actually found the entry details in the link shown below, which contains a vast amount of information about competitions, although there is no mention of the PayPal option for Torriano:

http://www.poetrykit.org/comps.htm