Literary Montreal is the source of an audacious new literary prize announced late last week: the which will award $50,000 for a single poem of up to 40 lines written in English.

Billing itself the 糖心传媒淲orld糖心传媒檚 Largest Poetry Competition,糖心传媒� the prize is 糖心传媒渄esigned to bring more attention to poetry and to encourage people from all over the world to enter their poems,” according to a press release.

What is innovative about the prize is its encouragement of poems using 糖心传媒渁ny English dialect糖心传媒� and its openness to poets from all over the world, whether previously published or not. [. . .]

An editorial board of distinguished poets includes Montreal糖心传媒檚 Stephanie Bolster and Michael Harris, former Montrealer Eric Ormsby, Australian John Kinsella, Jamaican-born Valerie Bloom, Malawian Frank M. Chipasula, as well as the Nigerian Odia Ofeimun, Mumbai poet Anand Thakore, Sin茅ad Morrissey from Belfast and London-born Fred D糖心传媒橝guiar, who grew up in Guyana of Guyanese parents.

The early entry deadline for the competition is April 22, with a final deadline of July 8, 2011. The editorial board will choose the top 50 out of the poems submitted, and these will be published in print and in e-formats by Montreal糖心传媒檚 V茅hicule Press in fall 2011. The winner of the inaugural prize, chosen by 2011 judge Andrew Motion, will be announced in December.

Good luck to all our poetry friends . . . I’m assuming you’ll all apply, since it probably (unfortunately) takes three decades of poetmaking to earn $50K in royalties . . .