The 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics is a competition that will run over 6 qualifying heats in July-August 2020.
The competition is open to all who pay the £5 entry fee and submit a batch of 6 poems before the closing date of midnight BST at the end of 30th June 2020.
On payment of the fee, you will be randomly allocated a country name, which will identify you during the course of the competition.
When the competition starts, countries will be placed into random, equal sized groups. The first heat poem from each country’s batch will then compete against the others in their own group.
The winners from each group will then proceed to the 2nd heat, where they will be placed into new qualifying groups. Those who did not win will be eliminated from the competition.
The second poem from each country’s batch will then compete… and so on, until the 6th and final heat.
At the end of the competition, there will be 3 Medal Winners:
The Gold Medal winner will be awarded 50% of the value of the entry fees received. They will also work with Cerasus to have a collection of their poetry published and will receive 10 complimentary copies of the ensuing book.
The Silver Medal winner will be awarded 25% of the value of the entry fees received. They will also work with Cerasus to have a collection of their poetry published and will receive 5 complimentary copies of the ensuing book.
The Bronze Medal winner will work with Cerasus to have a collection of their poetry published and will receive 3 complimentary copies of the ensuing book.
All published books will be made available to buy on Amazon and their authors will be able to purchase further copies at a discounted price.
Please refer to the full rules below:
- Entry to the competition is secured by paying the £5 registration fee, using the payment button below.
- Payment must be made no later than midnight BST at the end of 30th June 2020.
- After the closing date, payments will not be refunded.
- We regret, there are no concessions.
- After payment of the registration fee, you may submit your batch of 6 poems at any time, up to the closing date.
- Late entries will not be included in the competition and you may forfeit your entry fee.
- Entries must be submitted as a Word compatible document, attached to an email addressed to aviumpress@gmail.com
- Poems can be of any length or format, but must be in the same order and in some way inspired by the 6 prompts given below.
- There must be a clear page break between each poem.
- The first page of your submission must include the following details: your name, email address and the name of the country you were allocated when you registered.
- The poems must be all your own work, to which you own full copyright and it must not defame, plagiarise, or otherwise infringe anyone else’s rights.
- The competition will be judged by the Editor of Cerasus Poetry, whose decision will be final.
- The progress of the competition heats will be publicised on http://cerasuspoetry.com and individual entrants will be notified by email.
- Winners will be announced no later than the 30th September 2020.
- The number of groups in each heat and the cash value of prizes will be determined by the number of entrants, the details of which will be announced before the heats begin.
As stated in the rules, the 6 prompts shown below must inspire your own poems, whether it be the image, title or text:
ENTRIES NOW CLOSED.
Heat 1 Results
Below, please find the full results of Heat 1 of the 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics.
Each poem was played off individually against the other poems in its Group. 2 points were awarded for a Win and 1 point for a Draw.
Currently, the countries to watch are Australia, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Fiji, Iceland, Italy, Kenya, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Oman, Peru, Switzerland and Venezuela.
Those in danger of elimination are China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Madagascar, Morocco, Sweden and Uruguay.
However, in many cases, the results were very close and possibly due to the ‘luck of the draw’ in which Groups the countries had to compete.
Accordingly, we have decided to bend the rules a little and not make any eliminations, for this Heat only. Instead, all countries will compete again in Heat 2 and be randomly re-assigned to different Groups.
| A | AUSTRALIA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| BELGIUM | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||
| CANADA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||
| DENMARK | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| ECUADOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| FIJI | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| B | GERMANY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| HUNGARY | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| ICELAND | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| JAMAICA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| KENYA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| LUXEMBOURG | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| C | MADAGASCAR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| NETHERLANDS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| OMAN | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| PERU | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| QATAR | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| ROMANIA | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| D | AUSTRIA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| BRAZIL | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| MAURITIUS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| THAILAND | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | ||
| URUGUAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| VENEZUELA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| E | CHILE | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| EGYPT | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| FRANCE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| IRELAND | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| MALTA | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| NORWAY | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| F | CHINA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| MONACO | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| PORTUGAL | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| SWEDEN | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| SWITZERLAND | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| TUNISIA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| G | CYPRUS | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| ITALY | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| MOROCCO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| POLAND | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| RUSSIA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| SPAIN | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Heat 2 Results
Below, please find the full results of Heat 2 of the 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics.
Each poem was played off individually against the other poems in its Group. 2 points were awarded for a Win and 1 point for a Draw.
At the end of this Heat, we have to bid farewell to China, Germany, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, Russia and Uruguay, who have now sadly been eliminated from the rest of this competition. Thank you very much for taking part. We wish you all good luck in your future endeavours.
The countries to watch are now Australia, Fiji, Iceland, Italy, Kenya, Peru, Switzerland and Venezuela; with Brazil, Denmark, Egypt, Hungary, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta and Mauritius in close contention.
Those most in danger of elimination are now Austria, Ecuador, France, Jamaica, Morocco, Spain, Sweden and Tunisia.
However, the results are closer than they may look and there is plenty of scope to turn things around.
The next Heat will comprise 7 Groups with 5 countries in each group.
| A | GERMANY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| IRELAND | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| MAURITIUS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| NETHERLANDS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| SPAIN | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| SWITZERLAND | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| B | AUSTRALIA | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | |
| BRAZIL | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| FRANCE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| MADAGASCAR | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| RUSSIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| SWEDEN | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| C | AUSTRIA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| BELGIUM | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| EGYPT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| HUNGARY | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| POLAND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| PORTUGAL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| D | CANADA | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| CHILE | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| ICELAND | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| MONACO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| MOROCCO | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
| OMAN | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| E | CHINA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| DENMARK | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| ITALY | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| JAMAICA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| PERU | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| THAILAND | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| F | CYPRUS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| ECUADOR | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| KENYA | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| MALTA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| QATAR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| URUGUAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| G | FIJI | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| LUXEMBOURG | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| NORWAY | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| ROMANIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| TUNISIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| VENEZUELA | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Heat 3 Results
Below, please find the full results of Heat 3 of the 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics.
Each poem was played off individually against the other poems in its Group. 2 points were awarded for a Win and 1 point for a Draw.
At the end of this Heat, we have to bid farewell to Austria, France, Ireland, Madagascar, Morocco, Sweden and Thailand, who have now sadly been eliminated from the rest of this competition. Thank you very much for taking part. We wish you all good luck in your future endeavours.
The countries to watch are now Fiji, Iceland, Italy, Kenya, Peru, Switzerland and Venezuela.
Those most in danger of elimination are now Belgium, Ecuador, Egypt, Jamaica, Poland, Qatar, Spain and Tunisia.
However, the results are closer than they may look and there is still plenty of scope to turn things around.
The next Heat will comprise 7 Groups with 4 countries in each group.
| A | ECUADOR | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| FIJI | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| JAMAICA | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| MOROCCO | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| POLAND | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| B | IRELAND | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| KENYA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| LUXEMBOURG | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| OMAN | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| PERU | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| C | AUSTRALIA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| MALTA | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| MAURITIUS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| NORWAY | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| THAILAND | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| D | AUSTRIA | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| BRAZIL | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| NETHERLANDS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| QATAR | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| TUNISIA | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| E | BELGIUM | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| CANADA | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| FRANCE | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| SPAIN | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| VENEZUELA | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| F | CHILE | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |
| DENMARK | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| EGYPT | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| MADAGASCAR | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| SWITZERLAND | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| G | CYPRUS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |
| HUNGARY | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| ICELAND | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| ITALY | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| SWEDEN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Heat 4 Results
Below, please find the full results of Heat 4 of the 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics.
Each poem was played off individually against the other poems in its Group. 2 points were awarded for a Win and 1 point for a Draw.
At the end of this Heat, we have to bid farewell to Belgium, Ecuador, Jamaica, Kenya, Malta, Norway and Spain, who have now sadly been eliminated from the rest of this competition. Thank you very much for taking part. We wish you all good luck in your future endeavours.
The countries to beat are now Fiji, Iceland, Peru, Switzerland and Venezuela.
Those most in danger of elimination are now Denmark, Egypt, Mauritius, Poland, Qatar and Tunisia.
However, the results are closer than they may look and there remains plenty of scope to turn things around. We have already lost countries that had appeared to be promising contenders.
The next Heat will comprise 7 Groups with 3 countries in each group, randomly assigned as follows:
Group A: Canada, Netherlands & Poland.
Group B: Chile, Cyprus & Peru.
Group C: Denmark, Egypt & Qatar.
Group D: Fiji, Hungary & Tunisia.
Group E: Australia, Iceland & Venezuela.
Group F: Brazil, Italy & Switzerland.
Group G: Luxembourg, Mauritius & Oman.
Those who survive Heat 5 will proceed to the semi-final head-to-head play-offs.
| A | CYPRUS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| DENMARK | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| SPAIN | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| TUNISIA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| B | ECUADOR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| EGYPT | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| HUNGARY | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| VENEZUELA | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| C | FIJI | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| ICELAND | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
| KENYA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| SWITZERLAND | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| D | AUSTRALIA | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| ITALY | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| JAMAICA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| LUXEMBOURG | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||
| E | BRAZIL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| MALTA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| OMAN | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| POLAND | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| F | BELGIUM | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| MAURITIUS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| NETHERLANDS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| PERU | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| G | CANADA | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| CHILE | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||
| NORWAY | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| QATAR | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
Heat 5 Results
Below, please find the full results of Heat 5 of the 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics.
Each poem was played off individually against the other poems in its Group. 2 points were awarded for a Win and 1 point for a Draw.
At the end of this Heat, we have to bid farewell to Australia, Brazil, Cyprus, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands and Tunisia, who have now sadly been eliminated from the rest of this competition. Thank you very much for taking part. We wish you all good luck in your future endeavours.
As ever, the results are much closer than they may look and it is growing increasingly difficult to choose between such evenly matched competitors.
The next Heat will comprise 7 head-to-head semi-final play-offs as follows:
Canada v Chile
Denmark v Venezuela
Fiji v Luxembourg
Hungary v Peru
Iceland v Italy
Oman v Qatar
Poland v Switzerland
The winners of each match will qualify for the final Heat, in which the Gold, Silver and Bronze medals will be awarded.
| A | CANADA | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| NETHERLANDS | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| POLAND | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| B | CHILE | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| CYPRUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| PERU | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| C | DENMARK | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| EGYPT | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| QATAR | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| D | FIJI | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| HUNGARY | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| TUNISIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| E | AUSTRALIA | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| ICELAND | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| VENEZUELA | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| F | BRAZIL | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| ITALY | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| SWITZERLAND | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| G | LUXEMBOURG | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| MAURITIUS | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| OMAN | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Heat 6 Results
Here are the results of the Heat 6 semi-final play-offs of the 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics:
CHILE beat CANADA
DENMARK beat VENEZUELA
FIJI beat LUXEMBOURG
HUNGARY beat PERU
ICELAND beat ITALY
OMAN beat QATAR
POLAND beat SWITZERLAND
Congratulations to all participants, for making it this far.
At the end of this Heat, the winning countries will progress to the Grand Final, where the Gold, Silver and Bronze medal prizes will be decided on a cumulative points basis.
There will also be an extra Laurel Wreath prize awarded to the best runner-up.
Final Results
It is my pleasure and honour to announce the Final Winners of the 2020 Cerasus Poetry Olympics:
Gold Medal: ICELAND (Mark Kilburn)
Silver Medal: FIJI (Sophie Norton)
Bronze Medal: OMAN (John Gallas)
Laurel Wreath: PERU (India Halstead)
Many congratulations to 4 most worthy champions and to everyone else who took part in this competition and made it such a positive experience (though by no means easy) to judge.
Cerasus Poetry 