Prompt:

Chanso

Chanso is French in origin consisting of five or six stanzas with an envoy that is roughly half the size of a regular stanza. A regular stanza is a poet’s choice. It can be a tercet, a quatrain, a quintain, a 6- or 10-line stanza, etc. So, if the poet chooses a quatrain as their regular stanza, the envoy will be half its size (two lines for a quatrain since it is a 4-line verse). Also, Chanso form follows the following rules:

~each line of the poem has the same number of syllables
~each stanza has the same length and rhyme scheme, which means that if the poet chooses 6 syllables per line, and the stanza follows the abba rhyme scheme, ALL five or six stanzas will have the same syllable count/line and the same rhyme scheme.
~the envoy will be half

• Send in your entries,  as an attachment in a word document (.doc/.docx, any other file will not be published), to penmagica@gmail.com along with a 2-3 line bio (not required if previously sent).
• The subject of your mail should be Entry for #PenMuse-56 (compulsory).
• Along with your entry please send a suggested cover for your poem. (please send it as a separate attachment. Make sure it is a stock photo, no watermarks, and of high resolution –800 pixels and above). The elves at Penmancy are mighty pleased if a poem is accompanied by a cover.
• Check your syllable count here.

Rules:

1. The submitted poem must have a title (Keep it simple with no punctuation marks; all words more than 3 letters must be capitalised)
2. There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit –though only the first submitted poem will be qualified for contention.
3. Previously published or plagiarised works will not be considered for contention.
4. Poems found to have been shared on another platform or blog before the declaration of results stand disqualified from the event, and the writer of such content stands to be disqualified for the next Penmancy event.
5. In case a poem is received after the submission deadline, it shall be considered as a guest entry and shall not qualify for the event.
6. Entries that don’t follow rules will be published and shared on the page and group but are disqualified for winning.

Winning criteria:

• The winner will be chosen on the basis of the judges’ scores (out of 10)
  • creativity/content and originality, [12 points]
  • coherence of form and structure (harmony of words, presentation), [12 points]
  • clarity of imagery and language/grammar, [10 points]
  • emotional impact, [10 points]
  • topic/relevance to the theme, [6 points]
• The entries adjudged by a panel of judges and event organisers shall be binding. Judges’ scores to be deemed final and may not be contested. Final scores are not disclosed to the participants.
• The entries adjudged through this process shall be binding. No scores will be shared with the participants.
• All writers are required to read and comment on 5 stories other than their own and encourage their fellow writers with valuable and constructive inputs. Comments like “nice”, “good work”, “brilliant piece”, etc. do not provide the necessary critique and are not helpful for anyone.

•  Timelines-
  • The last date of submission is October 20, 2023 
  • Winners shall be announced on October 27, 2023

The announcement of winners may be postponed or preponed depending on the number of entries received.

The winners of the event shall receive one of these books by Beetashok Chatterjee.

This book was extended for #PenmancyBookNook Author Spotlight program.