Poetry Contest eligibility rules
Opening date: May 9, 2023
(For any entry or eligibility queries not covered below, please email info@caribmagplus.com for clarification before submitting an entry.)
Entrants must be citizens of a Caribbean or Central American Country, or descended from a Caribbean/Central American country by no more than two generations. I.E, as far back as your grandparents.
(See list of eligible countries below)
Eligible Countries
CARIBBEAN ISLANDS
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Martin, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands
CENTRAL AMERICAN COUNTRIES
Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela.
There is no age restriction for entry into the Competition.
Submissions must be in English, or if in your native language, must be translated to English on the same submission script
Entries will not be accepted from judges of the Competition or from individuals employed at Caribbean Magazine Plus
Entries must be submitted via the online entry form at: https://www.caribmagplus.com/poetry-contest-2023/
The Caribbean Magazine Plus will request verification of citizenship status before winners are selected. Entries from people that are not citizens of non-Caribbean and Central American countries, or descended from those countries as described above are not eligible.
Entries must be unpublished and remain unpublished in any language until August 25, 2023.
Only one entry per writer may be submitted for the Caribbean Magazine Plus Poetry Contest – the poem must be the entrant’s own work. The poem must be original work and should not have been published anywhere, in full or in part, in any language, before May 9, 2023.
Entries must be 500 words minimum, 2,000 words maximum (not including title). Entries should be uploaded in a Word or PDF document. Please save your and use the title of the poem as the file name. If you are paying for an entrant, please save the document as the payee name and title.
All entries are final and there will be no revisions, additions or amendments and no recalls. So check your entry properly.
The cost of entry is $15 US/BSD dollars per single entry. We will not accept cash, either pay by credit/debit card, Paypal or bank draft. We are also allowing groups to enter, see below:
If you are paying on behalf of a group, the rules are as follows:
- You submit all grouping entries on one single Word or PDF file with each contestant separated by name and country on that file;
- Ensure the file is in the name of the person/entity paying with the credit/debit card; and
- Then you are directed to the payment button and you select the tier you are submitting for:
Tier #1. Up to 5 Entrants: $65
Tier #2. Between 6 and 10 Entrants: $100
Tier #3. Between 10 and 20 Entrants: $160
Agreement
The ‘Rules of Entry’ as defined here for the Caribbean Magazine Plus’s Poetry Contest 2023 (Rules) incorporate the Competition’s ‘Terms and Conditions’ (Terms). The Terms shall govern in event of conflict. By submitting an entry, you agree to be bound by the Rules and Terms of the Competition.
Competition deadline
The final closing date for entries into the Caribbean Magazine Plus Poetry Contest, 2023 is on August 25, 2023 at 11:59pm EST.
Entering the Competition
Entries must be made via the Competition’s online form and must include:
Entrant’s name
Entrant’s nationality
Entrant’s current residence
Entrant’s email address
If your submitted poem adheres to the Rules and Terms of the Competition it will be approved and will be evaluated accordingly.
An email notification that your entry has been submitted will be sent to the email provided at submission.
Judging process
Criteria for judging will be based on:
How impactful the poem is; and
Originality of the submission
There is no direct theme and writers are encouraged to explore their range of ideas.
Judging
A panel consisting of lead evaluator, poet, educator and performing artist, Mr Malachi Smith along with Caribbean Magazine Plus staff will shortlist submissions and finalize.
Announcement of Winners
The overall winner and finalist will be announced on the Caribbean Magazine Plus’s website and related social media accounts.
The decision of the judges is final. No correspondence will be entered into. All finalists will be notified by email on/by September 30, 2023.
The winner will be named the Caribbean Magazine Plus’s poet of the year, and will receive a cash prize of $500 (USD) for first place, the second place finalist will receive $250 (USD) and the third place finalist $100 (USD).
All entrants agree that their submissions may be used in a compilation book of this year’s submissions.
For all enquiries regarding the Caribbean Magazine Plus Poetry Contest 2023, please contact: info@caribmagplus.com
About Mr Malachi Smith
He was one of the readers at the first Talking Trees in May 2011, and appeared again at the second Talking Trees in 2012, and returned to the Talking Trees stage on May 27, 2017. Malachi’s earlier appearances include being the headliner in 2004 at the International Dub-Poetry Festival in Toronto and in 2008 at the Love-In Festival in Miami with Richie Havens and other greats. He also made three appearances in New York, and toured St. Kitts and Nevis in the summer of 2000 to rave reviews. More recent appearances include: 2012 – International Poetry Festival of Colombia, Medellin, Colombia; 2014 – International Poetry Festival of Nicaragua; 2015 – International Poetry Festival of Taiwan; 2016 – Poetry Africa, Durban, South Africa; 2017 – Polokwane Literary Fair, Limpopo, South Africa – Hon. Louise Bennett-Coverly Reading Festival, Broward Community College; and 501 Café, New York. 2018 – Honduras International Poetry Festival, University of the West Indies, Bookophilia and other locations in Jamaica. 2019 appeared at a poetry festival in Mexico. 2022 appeared at CARICON in Los Angeles, where he presented a masterclass on dub poetry and did several readings including one at the Marcus Garvey School. 2022, successfully directed and appeared in the Reggae Musical, Power Game II, at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center.
His awards include 2021, one gold and two silver medals for Creative Writing – Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC), the 2016 Akamedia Award in the Reggae Category for his poem How Yuh Mek Har and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s (JCDC) 4th Place Choice Writer (gold and bronze medals) 2018; Best Adult Poet in 2017 and 2014, following earlier JCDC awards: 2009 most outstanding writer in the poetry and 2006 four Literary Awards for poetry and playwriting. Also in 2006 he won the Joe Higgs Music Award for dub poet of the year, and was nominated for the dub poet of the year in the Reggaesoca Awards, and for the poet of the year in the Martin’s International Music Awards. He has been a nominee in the IRAWMA Award for Best Poet (2012 -2016). Malachi was one of the 50 Jamaicans living in the USA, who were special honored for their contribution to Jamaica on the occasion of Jamaica’s 50 year of independence. He is the recipient of the Jamaican Trailblazer Award from the City of Lauderhill, Florida, The Vanguard Award on the occasion of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence, The Certificate of Achievement for Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of independence for Diaspora contributions and achievements, and other awards.
Malachi’s poem, My Jamaican Tongue, was recently published in the anthology, 100 plus voices for Miss Lou, Poetry, Tributes, Interviews and essays, edited by Dr. Opal Palmer Adisa.
The documentary film, Dub Poetry: the life and work of Malachi Smith premiered in 2007.
Malachi’s CDs include Hail to Jamaica, released in 2011; Scream, released in 2014; Wiseman in 2017, and his latest, Tick Off in 2020. He is awaiting publication of three new poetry collections, When I Mothered My Sons, Stony Gut, and Black Love. Another major non-fiction work, Fire fi Fife – Blood Fi Blood: I Was There, that chronicles the events in Jamaica between 1976 and 1980 is now being shopped.
An alumnus of Florida International University (M.S.C.J. & B.Sc.), Miami-Dade College (AA) and Jamaica School of Drama, Malachi was one of the founding members of Poets in Unity, a critically acclaimed ensemble that brought dub-poetry to the forefront of reggae music in the late 1970s, and carried it forward for a decade.
He is the recipient of the Jamaican Trailblazer Award from the City of Lauderhill, Florida, The Vanguard Award on the occasion of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence, The Certificate of Achievement for Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of independence for Diaspora contributions and achievements, and other awards.
Malachi’s poem, My Jamaican Tongue, was recently published in the anthology, 100 plus voices for Miss Lou, Poetry, Tributes, Interviews and essays, edited by Dr. Opal Palmer Adisa.
In addition to being a poet, Malachi served in the police force in Jamaica and in Florida, retiring from the latter in 2016. He was a freelance writer for the Jamaica Daily Gleaner (Overseas Edition), a board member of the Jamaica Ex-police Association of South Florida, as well as the Caribbean Education Foundation; and the Honorable Louise Bennett-Coverley Heritage Council. Malachi is married to his childhood sweetheart Marcia and has two sons Maurice and Marlon.
