Announcing our Clerihew Contest

Centenary Clerihew Contest

sponsored by

The Literature Club of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY


Eligibility: The Literature Club of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, is sponsoring the Centenary Clerihew Poetry Contest in celebration of our 100th anniversary. The contest is open to all, including members of The Literature Club of Hastings and their immediate families, and regardless of experience or previous publication. Each entrant may submit as many clerihews she or she likes.

A clerihew is a whimsical, four-line biographical poem invented by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. The lines are comically irregular in length, and the rhymes are structured AABB. The clerihews submitted to this contest should focus on literary figures (either authors or characters). Here are a couple of sample clerihews:

Daniel Defoe
Lived a long time ago.
He had nothing to do, so
He wrote Robinson Crusoe.

Edgar Allan Poe
Was passionately fond of roe.
He always liked to chew some,
While writing anything gruesome.

All entries must include name, address, and best way to contact you. Entries should be emailed to LitClubofHastings@gmail.com or mailed to “Centenary Clerihew Contest,” c/o Diana Jaeger, 67 Hillside Avenue, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706.

Contest Dates: The Clerihew Contest will run from Sunday, March 22, 2009, through Monday, June 1, 2009.

Selection: Clerihews will be judged on originality, creativity, and artistic quality. Poems not meeting the requirements for clerihews will be automatically disqualified.

Prizes: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will be selected. The first-place winner will receive an online subscription to Today in Literature and a $50 gift certificate to riverrun bookshop. Second prize is a $35 gift certificate to riverrun bookshop, and third prize is a $25 gift certificate to riverrun bookshop .

Decisions: The panel of judges consists of members of the Clerihew Committee of The Literature Club of Hastings: Helen Barolini, Diana Jaeger, and Christine Lehner. No bribes, whether old textbooks or cucumber sandwiches, will be accepted. All decisions made by the judges are final.

Fees: There are no entry fees for the contest. No purchase necessary. No financial obligation to enter or win the contest.

Notification: Winners will be announced June 15th and will be notified by phone or by mail. Names of the winners and their respective poems will be announced in the Rivertowns Enterprise and will appear on the Literature Club blog.

Legalities: No purchase necessary. Sponsored by The Literature Club of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York.