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Terms & Conditions for WFL Competitions

Terms and Conditions applicable to all Competitions
(Open Poetry, A Book for Children, Short Story and the Young Poets Competition)

  1. Entry into any Competition is subject to these Competition Terms and Conditions and to the extent not inconsistent, to the General Terms and Conditions.
  2. The Competitions are open for entries from [00:00:00] 1 April 2024 until [23:59:59] 30 June 2024 BST.
  3. Entrants outside the United Kingdom must enter online. Entries must be in English.
  4. Each of the four Competitions has separate rules (Rules) stipulated which apply to that Competition.
  5. All entries must be the exclusive and original work of the entrant. Entrants to the Young Poets Competition must be aged 16 to 22 inclusive, at the closing submission date on 30 June 2024. Entrants to all other competitions who are under the age of 16 at the closing submission date on 30 June 2024 must have permission from their parent or guardian, to whom any prize will be paid on the Entrant’s behalf.
  6. Entrants to the Young Poets Competition may submit one entry. Entrants to the Open Poetry, A Book for Children and Short Story may enter as many times as they wish. Each entry requires a separate fee, stipulated in the Rules for each Competition.
  7. At the time of entry, the work submitted must not have been entered into any other Competition and must not have been published in any format or location. All Competition entrants agree that once a work has been entered in any one of the Competitions, it must not subsequently be entered into any other competition or published until either (a) it has been determined that it has not won a prize or (b) after the prize winners have been revealed.
  8. Entries which exceed the stated length will be disqualified.
  9. Please save your work simply as its Title, as a PDF. Any deviations from this format will be disqualified
  10. The entries for each competition will be shortlisted by our experienced shortlisting panels.  The lists will then be sent to the advertised judges.  In case of necessity, the Wells Festival of Literature reserves the right to change a judge or judges without notice.
  11. ONLY shortlisted entries will be notified, and their names may be published by WFL in any format and in any medium. The list will be posted on the WFL website no later than 30 September 2024.
  12. By entering a competition, all entrants grant permission and appropriate rights to WFL to publish their entries for any purpose of the Competition, including on the WFL website, and in any booklet published by WFL.
  13. The judges’ decisions are final. No correspondence will be entered into.