The Geist Jackpine Sonnet Contest

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Write a Jackpine Sonnet and Win $500

Part jack pine, part son­net, all Canadian

What the jack­pine son­net is:
A sonnet-like poem.

Where it comes from:
Milton Acorn (1923 – 1986), a poet from Prince Edward Island, cre­ated the genre and named it after the jack pine, a tree that seeds itself in fire.

How to write one:
Write a poem with 14 lines, each line con­tain­ing 7 to 13 syl­la­bles. But, in Acorn’s words, “If your son­net cuts itself off — click! — at, say line 12, 18 or 20, leave it at that.” An odd num­ber of lines is okay too. Apply the rhyme scheme of your choice, and if no rhyme comes up, be patient. Acorn advised writ­ers to write inter­nal rhymes (rhymes within a line) or exter­nal rhymes (rhymes at the end of con­sec­u­tive lines) “to keep the flow.” In the absence of rhyme, use asso­nance (the rep­e­ti­tion of vowel sounds), “to keep the rhyme alive in order to come up with a true rhyme fur­ther on.”

First prize: $500

Second prize: $250

Third prize: $125

How to enter the con­test: Write a jack­pine son­net and send it to Geist by post or by fill­ing out the form below. Include a $10 entry fee, which buys you a one-year sub­crip­tion to Geist, dig­i­tal edition.

Contest dead­line: Canada Day, July 1, 2010

7th Annual Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest

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Postcard Contest

Welcome to the Geist Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest, the writ­ing con­test whose name is almost as long as the entries!

The 7th annual con­test is now under­way — and the dead­line is November 30, 2010!

First Prize: $250
Second Prize: $150
Third Prize: $100
(more than one prize per cat­e­gory may be awarded)
Honourable Mentions: Swell Geist gifts

Send us a post­card along with a story that relates to the image. The rela­tion­ship can be as tan­gen­tial as you like, so long as there is some clear con­nec­tion to the image or place.

Maximum length: 500 words, fic­tion or non-fiction.

Winning entries will be pub­lished in Geist and at geist.com.
Honourable men­tions will be pub­lished at geist.com.

Type your lit­eral post­card story on stan­dard paper, in at least 11-point type, and attach the post­card with a paper clip (no sta­ples, please). Judging is blind, so do not write your name on the story or the card. Include a cover let­ter with these details:

  • Your name
  • Story title(s)
  • Address
  • Phone num­ber
  • Email address
  • How you found out about the contest

(Your per­sonal infor­ma­tion is con­fi­den­tial and will be used by Geist only to con­tact you.)

Entry Fee: $20 for the first entry (includes a 1-year sub­scrip­tion or sub­scrip­tion exten­sion), $5 for each addi­tional entry.

Send your entry with a cheque for the entry fee to:

Geist Postcard Contest
#200 — 341 Water Street
Vancouver, BC
V6B 1B8

Entries must be post­marked no later than November 30, 2010.

Questions? Call 604 – 681-9161 or email geist@geist.com.

Click here for a list of the 6th Annual Literal Literary Postcard Story Contest win­ners. Read the win­ning entries in Geist 77 and at geist.com.

THE FINE PRINT:

Winning entries: Geist retains first ser­ial rights for print and non-exclusive elec­tronic rights to post the text at geist.com and on thetyee.ca. All other rights remain with the author. Geist will attempt to secure repro­duc­tion rights for images.

Publication rights for non-winning entries are retained by the entrants. 

Postcards will be returned if requested.

Geist con­tests are open to all entrants, except Geist staff and con­tract employ­ees, exec­u­tive mem­bers of the geist foun­da­tion and con­test judges.

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