It’s unheard of, really.  But the first Montreal International Poetry Prize will award $50,000 for one single poem.

From its website:

The Montreal Prize is a first-of-its-kind global poetry competition awarding $50,000 for one poem. Our international jury of ten distinguished poets from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Americas will select the top 50 entries. This shortlist will be published in our groundbreaking global poetry anthology. And from that shortlist our prize judge, Andrew Motion, will select the winner of the 2011 prize.

All entries must be in English and poems must be no longer than 40 lines.  It’s okay to include a few non-English words.  The early deadline is April 22, 2011 and the final deadline is July 8, 2011.  There is an entry fee of between $15 to $25 depending on if you live in a developed or developing country.  Multiple entries per poet are allowed.

I’m hoping that all the poets out there, especially those in Ghana and Africa, will enter :).

For more information, especially on how to submit your poem, please visit the website of The Montreal International Poetry Prize. Good luck!