Calling all Alfred Tennyson’s and Christina Rossetti’s: the Montreal International Poetry Prize competition is in full-swing, and enormous prestige and dolla’ bills hang in the balance for all participants. Open to international contestants, this unique, global, Montreal-based non-profit organization will bestow $50,000 upon one lucky and very talented poet (yes, that’s three zeroes: a catalyst donation by someone equal parts generous and anonymous). What’s more, 150 poems will be published in a ‘longlist’ anthology, while the top 50 entries will make it into the Montreal Prize’s global anthology. Triaged by a carefully selected editorial board, the final 50 entries will be given to UK Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, who will then decide upon the ultimate winner.

To enter, all aspiring rhymesters must pay a fee between $10 and $25 – the fee varies depending on the deadline you choose to meet (early or late), and your citizenship. In an attempt to encourage the participation of poets from international poetry traditions, fees are lower for those living in undeveloped nations, according to the United Nation’s Human Development Index (cool!). The early entry deadline is April 22, and poems will not be accepted past the late entry deadline – July 8, 2011. Your piece can not surpass 40 lines of text (excluding titles and blank lines) and must be in an English dialect.

Do you have what it takes? Enter here!

Full contest details and further information about the organization can be found here.

~ Tyler Yank