India's second SMS poetry contest (: after ours, natch :)

Remember our informal SMS verse contest? Well, here's one with real prizes, part of the Kala Ghoda festival, sponsored, in part, by our friends at Crossword Bookstores.

ORNG – CRWD PO8RY COMPTN @ KGAF

ORANGE – CROSSWORD SMS POETRY COMPETITION

Awards ceremony: Saturday, 22 January 2005
Time: 6 pm
Venue: The Elphinstone College Quadrangle

The purpose of language and literature is to push boundaries, and we at Kala Ghoda are pleased to involve the use of new media in poetry. The Orange – Crossword SMS Poetry Competition will be the first of its kind to be held in the country. Poetry must be inclusive and the objective of this competition is to make poetry accessible to everyone, especially the youth. The competition encourages the use of new technology and innovative media in literature, hoping to evoke a fresh, experimental form of poetic expression.

Those wishing to participate in this competition will need to send 'POETRY' as an SMS to 7007 from an Orange phone and will receive instructions. Terms and conditions will be made available on the Orange website. Last date for entries is 18 January 2005 and these must be original works in English. Entries may use only alphabets and characters available on standard mobile phones.

A panel of judges that includes names such as Arundhathi Subramaniam, Jerry Pinto and Marilyn Noronha will read the poems and shortlist the 10 best poems. Shortlisted participants will be invited to the awards function where the judges will present the top 10 poems and announce the winning entries. Winning entries will also be posted on the Orange, Kala Ghoda and Crossword websites. Crossword will present the winners with Crossword gift vouchers:

1st Prize – Crossword gift voucher worth Rs.2500.
2 Runners up - Crossword gift voucher worth Rs. 1000 each.

Special deal for Caferati contributors and readers:If you're not an Orange or hutch subsrcriber, you can send in your entries via email to caferati@gmail.com. Note: Since Caferati's SMS verse contest was an informal affair, you are free to send in your entries from there. (Remember the deadline: 18th January 2005.)

And there's more cooking in our relationship with Crossword. Watch this space!

Update (18th Jan) Just checked the Orange page on this contest, and i see that there is a 150-character limit on each entry.