BELFAST — The Maine Postmark Poetry Contest, a statewide competition, is happening again this year in conjunction with the 10TH Annual Belfast Poetry Festival, to be held Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18. Maine residents and everyone with access to a Maine post office or mailbox this summer are invited to enter. Citizens, residents, and visitors are welcome. The only rule is that entries must bear a Maine postmark.

To enter, submit one poem of up to two (2) total pages in length; each entry must be accompanied by a $5 reading fee. Proceeds will support the festival. Entrants may submit more than one poem, but each additional poem is an additional $5.

The Belfast Poetry Festival Committee screens entries and forwards finalists to an outside judge, Gary Lawless, poet of national and historic reputation, publisher at Blackberry Books, and co-owner of Gulf of Maine Books, who will choose first, second, and third place winners. The first place winner will receive a $100 cash prize and publication in Off the Coast, Maine's International Poetry Journal. Winners will be invited to read their poem at the Belfast Poetry Festival in October. Winning poems will also be announced and published in the Maine press. The top ten poems will be featured in Belfast art galleries during October as part of the festival's Gallery Hunt.

Only submissions received with a Maine postmark dated Aug. 1 or earlier will be read. Poems should be sent without the poet's name on the poem and accompanied by a cover letter listing the poet's name, contact information (address, email, and phone), and the title of the poem(s) submitted so that poems can be read anonymously. Cover letters need not include biographical information. Poems sent without a cover letter or entry fee will be disqualified. All poems must be original and previously unpublished.

Poems will not be returned, so please do not send originals or an SASE. Winners will be notified by September 15; other confirmation of receipt should not be expected.

Send entries accompanied by a cover letter with contact information and a check for $5 per poem made out to the City of Belfast—to:

Jacob Fricke, Belfast Poetry Festival
Attn: Maine Postmark Poetry Contest
P.O. Box 911
Belfast, ME 04915

For more information on the 10TH Annual Belfast Poetry Festival, the contest, or the Gallery Hunt, contact Jacob Fricke at jacob@belfastpoetry.com or check out the website at www.belfastpoetry.com.