Free contest, Lincoln Poetry Contest, prize: $500

Deadline: 18 April 2011

Democracy IS a work in progress, which is why we want to open up our creative process! Help us script a video art installation about Lincoln’s legacy. You could win a $500 prize and possible national exposure!

We are looking for a poem that will work as a spoken word piece that can be incorporated into a video art installation that pays tribute to Lincoln’s legacy and highlights the theme “Democracy is a work in progress.” The winning piece or pieces will imbue the program with a lively, contemporary feel and provoke curiosity, discussion, and reflection about Lincoln’s legacy. The winning poem or poems may be featured at a nationally known historic site that attracts nearly one million visitors annually.

DEADLINE: All entries must be submitted by 9:00 am EST on April 18, 2011.

PRIZE: $500; chance to gain national exposure; bragging rights among your poetic peers.

CONTEST GUIDELINES – We welcome any and all creative interpretations of our concept, but we do have a few specific guidelines:

• Length: 2-3 minutes as a spoken word piece
• Central Theme: Democracy is a work in progress
• Use at least some of Lincoln’s words/excerpts; the piece should feature Lincoln's words significantly - ideally 25% or more of the piece should be quotes from Lincoln. Feel free to "remix" the quotes to suit your poem or reveal a new interpretation of Lincoln's words, as long as you are not twisting Lincoln's words inappropriately.
• Design for a wide audience mix: middle school students, tourist groups, families – the site welcomes nearly 1 million visitors annually, so the piece should be appropriate for all.
• Can't be politically slanted: The poem can address political issues, as long as it does so without endorsing a specific viewpoint.
• Assume that a variety of Americans will be performing the piece. There may be one narrator and a changing “chorus” or it may just be multiple voices - feel free to experiment with a conversational style, or explore other ways you can take advantage of the performance aspect of this piece.
• Make it relevant to visitors’ lives; we want people to walk away with plenty of food for thought.

In case you’re not feeling inspired just yet:

On July 4, 1861, several months after the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln delivered a special address to Congress. Near the end of his message, he stated:

“Our popular Government has often been called an experiment.
Two points in it our people have already settled—the successful establishing and the successful administering of it.

One still remains—its successful maintenance…. “

- President Lincoln, Address to Congress July 4, 1861

Lincoln the man and the myth is many things to many people these days, but perhaps his most salient legacy is the fact that we are a United States. As our nation was balancing on the edge of a knife, he kept it whole. But the cost was great and 150 years later the wounds are still visible. We want to ask visitors to look at what it means to be part of Lincoln’s legacy, to be a participant in this ongoing experiment called democracy, rife with colliding ideas, opinions, and forces. We want them to contemplate the idea that Lincoln’s achievements were both momentous and incomplete, and that our democratic government is a collaborative entity that lives or dies depending on the input of all its participants.

This concept will be conveyed through the spare lines of a spoken word poem scripted especially for this purpose, and possibly set to a hip hop beat. The lines are deceptively simple, weaving in phrases from Lincoln and using repetition for emphasis. Spoken by a mix of voices, they gain power in conjunction with a graphically rich, varied, and sometimes gritty “collage aesthetic” incorporating contemporary and archival imagery, quotes, animation, interview clips, and historical documents. The ultimate goal is to leave the visitor with the thought-provoking takeaway: “Democracy is a work in progress; it’s up to us to carry it forward.”

CONTEST RULES:

• Entries will be judged based on their adherence to the guidelines described above.
• You must be 18 or over to participate.
• There is no entry fee.
• All entries must be original works by the entrant, and previously unpublished, either in print, online, or any other format. No simultaneous submissions.
• There is no limit on the number of submissions by any one entrant.
• Entries should be in English.
• Online submissions only. Please send your submission as a word document (.doc) to "LincolnPoetryContest(at)gmail(dot)com".
• We will confirm receipt of your submission by email. If you do not receive confirmation within 24 hours please contact us.
• The deadline for submissions is 9:00 a.m. Monday, April 18, 2011.

In the body of your submission email please include the following information. (Please note that we will not release or sell contest entrant information to third parties or mailing lists, nor will you receive telephone or email solicitations, whatsoever.)

o Name
o Preferred telephone number and email address
o City and state
o A very brief (maximum 3-4 sentences) summary of your background with poetry, slam poetry, spoken word performance, or any related experience.

Up to three winners will be selected to receive a prize of $500 each. A winner or winners will be selected and notified by summer of 2011. We reserve the right not to select a winner. Entry into the competition implies unqualified acceptance of all the contest rules. If you submit a winning entry, we hope and expect to be able to use it. This is for a non-profit historical site. Here’s the legalese.

OWNERSHIP AND USE OF WINNING POEMS: All entrants retain the copyright rights that they have in the poems they submit, but all entrants, by participating in this Contest and submitting poems, grant the perpetual and irrevocable right, license, and ability to use and publish all submitted poems (in the format submitted or in an altered format and in complete form or in excerpted form) in any media. Entrants’ opportunity to submit their poems and participate in this Contest constitutes full consideration for the foregoing grant.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us through this page or at "LincolnPoetryContest(at)gmail(dot)com"

More information here.