‘Poems for Human Rights’ Competition 2024
Call for Submissions
Have you ever thought about what human rights mean to you? We are organising the "Poems for Human Rights" competition to promote a deeper understanding of the different ways in which human rights can be experienced or felt by different people. The competition is open to everyone. We particularly encourage Utrecht students, alumni, residents, and poetry lovers to participate.
- Deadline: 4 of November 2024
- Submission requirements: open to all; poems of 20 lines or less; in English or Dutch
- Prizes: 300 EUR, to be split equally between 3 winners
At the start of the new academic year, Utrecht University brought attention to the significance of human rights for the people who make up the university and the city of Utrecht. Today, we call for poems on human rights where you can reflect on or express what human rights mean to you or how they affect you and others in your community.
Submissions are welcome from 17 September 2024. The deadline is midnight CEST (UTC+2) on 4 November 2024.
Requirements
- We welcome poems in any form that express personal experiences, feelings, or interpretations about human rights*.
- Each poem must comprise no more than 20 lines. (Blank lines and titles are not counted as lines).
- Poems must be written in English or in Dutch.
- Poems submitted must be the entrant’s own work. They may have been previously published, but not awarded, elsewhere.
* You can visit this website which contains information about the 30 human rights.
Prizes
- Three prizes of 100 euros each.
- Two of the winners will be chosen by a jury; a third one will be elected by public vote via our UU’s Instagram account from the remaining entries.
- The judges will be Mia You, Antoine Buyse, Michiel Doorman, Marieke Gelderblom, Geert Buelens and Hanneke van Eijken.
- Winners and all other entrants will be notified by email by the end of November 2024.
- All entries will be published on the UU website. In addition, the winning entries will be shared and celebrated on our social media channels (Facebook 82.6k followers, Instagram 56.2k followers, LinkedIn 31.9k followers), and be considered for publication, sharing or performance in different UU platforms targeting a broader audience.
How to participate
- Poems should be emailed to contentdigital@uu.nl in PDF format with the subject line “Poems for Human Rights 2024 Submission”. Include your name, contact details, and if you wish, your Instagram handle.
- Participants can submit up to two poems as part of their submission. Each poem should be in a separate PDF file.
- Submitted poems will be judged blind, so do not include your name inside the document or in the file name.
Partners
This competition is made possible with the support of:
