"we can not compete
but perhaps we meet somewhere"
from 'Red Rose and a Beggar' by H.D., found in Hermetic Definition (New
Directions,1972)
- This list is compiled monthly from information sent to The Poetry Library by organisers of competitions.
- Each competition has different regulations. In most cases, poems should be in English and not previously published.
- Where regulations and entry forms are available online, a link is provided, but in other cases, competitors should write to each competition, enclosing a stamped addressed envelope for an entry form before submitting work. For competitions suitable for children and young people, click here
- The Poetry Library accepts no liability in connection with the information contained in the list.
The Times Stephen Spender Prize for Poetry in Translation | Closing Date: 24-May-13
Details:Each entry must comprise the following: your translation, the original poem, your commentary. Entry form is essential. Three categories: Open, 18-and-under and 14-and-under. Winners of the Open prizes will receive £1000 (first), £750 (second) and £500 (third); the winners of the 18-and-under prizes will win £250 (first), £150 (second) and £100 (third). There will be one prize (£100) awarded in the 14-and-under category. Judges: Susan Bassnett, Edith Hall, Patrick McGuinness and George Szirtes. Check website for full details.
Entry Fee: £5 (free to 18s and under)
Contact:
Website entry: www.stephen-spender.org/2013_prize/entry_conditions.html
Postal entry: The Stephen Spender Trust, 3 Old Wish Road, Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 4JX
7th International Welsh Poetry Competition 2013 | Closing Date: 26-May-13
Details:For poems up to 50 lines. 1st Prize: £400, 2nd Prize: £200, and 3rd Prize: £100. Judge: Eloise Williams. See website for full details.
Entry Fee: £4.00 postal or £5.00 online
Contact:
The Welsh Poetry Competition, 9 The Avenue, Pontypridd, CF37 4DF, Wales, UK
Frogmore Papers Poetry Prize 2013 | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:For poems up to 40 lines. First Prize: two hundred guineas and a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers. First and second runners-up: 75 and 50 guineas respectively and a year's subscription to The Frogmore Papers. Shortlisted poets receive selected Frogmore Press publications.
Entry Fee: £3.00
Contact:
Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to The Frogmore Press.
The Frogmore Press, 21 Mildmay Road, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1PJ.
http://www.frogmorepress.co.uk
http://frogmore-jp.blogspot.com
David Burland Poetry Prize 2013 | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:Entries in Free Style in French and/or English. 1st Prize £200 (and publication on the website), 2nd Prize £70, 3rd Prize £30. Prizes awarded in each language category. Judges: Michel François and R Freidman.
Entry Fee: £8 for up to 2 poems; £3 per poem thereafter
Contact:
www.davidburlandpoetryprize.com
or write for application form:
Anna Burland Services, 39 High Street, Wolverhampton
WV11 1ST Staffs
Battered Moons Poetry Competition | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:For poems up to 40 lines. 1st £150, 2nd £75, 3rd £50. Main judge Alice Oswald.
Entry Fee: £3.00 or £10 for 4
Contact:
Cristina Newton at cristina.ne.newton@gmail.com
or Hilda Sheehan at batteredmoonsentries@gmail.com
Postal entries to: Battered Moons Poetry Competition, Lower Shaw Farm, Old Shaw Lane, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 5PJ
For further information and to enter on-line visit: http://batteredmoons.com
Wigtown Poetry Competition 2013 | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:In association with The Scottish Poetry Library, a competition for poetry written in English, Scots or Irish Gaelic or Scots. For poems up to 40 lines. Main Prize £2000, Runner-up £400. Eight additional prizes of £25 each. Judge: Robin Robertson. Also Meg Bateman judges the Gaelic prize: £250. Liz Niven judges the Scots prize: £250. See website for full details.
Entry Fee: £7.00, 3 for £19. Further discounts apply. Please check entry form.
Contact: wigtownbookfestival.com/year-round/wigtown-poetry-prize
Email: mail@wigtownbookfestival.com
Telephone: 01988402036
Bridport Prize 2013 | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:1st prize £5000, 2nd prize £1000, 3rd prize £500. Ten highly commended prizes of £50 each. Judge: Wendy Cope. Also: £100 Dorset Prize is awarded to the highest placed Dorset writer in the Bridport Prize each year (sponsored by The Book Shop of Bridport). The competition includes prose prizes also. See website for full details.
Entry Fee: £7 per poem
Contact: Send SAE for entry forms to:
Frances Everitt, Competition Administrator, The Bridport Prize, PO Box 6910, Bridport, Dorset DT6 9BQ
Enter online: www.bridportprize.org.uk
The Erbacce Prize for Poetry 2013 | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:In the first instance submit five pages of poetry. The winning collection will be published by Erbacce and the poet will receive a publishing contract. Up to three runners-up may be chosen to have pamphlets published. See website for full details.
Entry Fee: £0.00
Contact: http://www.erbacce-press.com/#/erbacce-prize/4533449873
Cardiff Women's Aid Poetry Competition | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:Theme: Domestic violence/abuse. Judge: Christina Thatcher. For poems up to 40 lines. There is a fiction competition running alongside. Winners receive publication and a copy of the anthology. Any moneys raised goes to the charity. See website for full details.
Entry Fee: £2.00 for up to three poems
Contact:
Email: creativewritingcompetition@cardiffwomensaid.org.uk
Cardiff Women?s Aid at Cardiff Women?s Aid, 16 Moira Terrace, Adamsdown, Cardiff. CF24 0EJ
www.cardiffwomensaid.org.uk/news/creativewritingcompetition.htm
Poems Please Me Prize 2013 | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:Theme: Movement. Poems of 12-40 lines. Prizes: £200 (1st), £100 (2nd), 4 x £25 (Highly Commended). Also, The Artists' Quarter (TAQ) will produce a number of illustrations of the two prizewinning poems. First Prize winner will also receive a canvas print of an illustration of their choice. The winning and commended poems will be published on Poems Please Me, along with several illustrations, and on a TAQ website.
Entry Fee: £12 subscription for up to 3 poems
Contact: Full details at www.poemsplease.me
Thynks 2013 Open Poetry Competition | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:Prizes: 1st - £100 plus publication. Runners-up - Publication
Entry Fee: £3
Contact: Website: - http://www.thynkspublications.co.uk/competitions
Email:- thynkspublications@yahoo.co.uk
Ludlow Fringe Poetry Competition | Closing Date: 31-May-13
Details:Judge: Helen Ivory Theme: The Longest Day. 1st Prize £100 2nd Prize £50 3rd Prize £20. 5 shortlisted poems will also, with the winning poems, be published on Ludlow Fringe Poetry Party's website, and all 8 winning poets invited to read at Ludlow Fringe Poetry Party 2014. Poems should be up to 40 lines, in English, without your name on them Poems should be the original work of the entrant Poems should not be published, under consideration for publication, or have previously won a prize, or be currently entered in another competition.
Entry Fee: £3 for one poem and £2 for each further poem
Contact: Please put your poem titles, name, address, phone number and email address on a separate contacts sheet.
Cheques must be in UK currency only, payable to 'Deborah Alma'.
Please post your entry to: Jean Atkin, 49 Gravel Hill, Ludlow SY8 1QS
Website: www.ludlowfringe.co.uk
Wirral Festival of Firsts Open Poetry Competition | Closing Date: 01-Jun-13
Details:For poems up to 40 lines. Adjudicator: Colin Watts. First Prize £200; Second £75. Three runners up, £25 each.
Entry Fee: £3 or £10 for 4 poems
Contact: www.festivaloffirsts.com
Festival of Firsts Poetry Competition, 71 Alderley Road, Hoylake, Wirral CH47 2AU
Segora Open Poetry Competition | Closing Date: 08-Jun-13
Details:Maximum 40 lines. Judge : John Hudson. First prize £150. Anthology for successful poems from the last three years.
Entry Fee: £0
Contact: Full details on www.poetryproseandplays.co.uk
Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition 2013 | Closing Date: 17-Jun-13
Details:Judge: Kathleen Jamie
1st Prize: £2000
2nd Prize: £400
3rd Prize: £200
17 Runners up: £25 each.
The tenth annual Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition is for poems of any length and in any style.
Entry Fee: £7 for up to 3 poems
Contact: For more information, and to enter, visit www.mslexia.co.uk/poetrycompetition,
email: poetry@mslexia.co.uk
call: 0191 204 8860.
Mslexia Women's Pamphlet Competition 2013 | Closing Date: 17-Jun-13
Details:Prize: Publication of the pamphlet by Seren Books, plus £250, 25 complimentary copies of your pamphlet and 10 per cent royalties from subsequent sales. The second annual Mslexia Women's Pamphlet Competition is for collections of 20-24 pages of 18-20 poems, which can be of any length, by poets who have not previously had a full collection published.
Entry Fee: £20
Contact: For more information, including full rules and FAQs, visit www.mslexia.co.uk/pamphletcompetition, email poetry@mslexia.co.uk or call us on 0191 204 8860
Lightship International Poetry Prize | Closing Date: 30-Jun-13
Details:Prize: £1000. 10 short-listed poems will be published in Lightship Anthology 3 (Nov 2013). Judge: David Wheatley. Word limit: 200.
Entry Fee: £8
Contact:
For full details of all our competitions please go to:http://www.lightshippublishing.co.uk/
If you have any queries aboutour contests please email us at:admin@lightshippublishing.co.uk
McLellan Poetry Competition 2013 | Closing Date: 30-Jun-13
Details:For poems up to 80 lines. Judges Peter and Ann Sansom. 1st prize £1000, 2nd £300, 3rd £100 and six commendations of £25. All prizewinners will be invited to read at the award ceremony in Brodick, Isle of Arran on 30 August 2013.
Entry Fee: £5 per poem, £4 each for three or more
Contact: Full details (and downloadable entry form) can be found on the website www.mclellanpoetryprize.co.uk
or for a competition leaflet send a SAE to the Competition Organiser, McLellan Poetry Award, The Yellowland, Whiting Bay, Isle of Arran KA27 8PZ, UK
Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition | Closing Date: 30-Jun-13
Details:Line Length: Up to 32 lines Prizes will be awarded as follows: First: £150 plus publication Second: £100 Third: £50. The results will be announced within six weeks of the closing date and the three winning entries will be published on the website.
Entry Fee: £3 for the first poem, then £2.50 for each poem thereafter
Contact: http://www.flash500.com/index_files/humourverse.html
International Proverse Prize for Unpublished Writing 2013 | Closing Date: 30-Jun-13
Details:The first prize is publication of the entered work and HK$10,000. (HKD7.80 approximately = US$1.00) Additional publication prizes may be awarded. Deadline for receipt of completed Entry Documents and Entry Fees: 31 May 2013. Deadline for receipt of Entered Works: 30 June 2013. Entry is open to all aged 18 or above on the date they sign the Entry Documents, irrespective of residence, nationality or citizenship. Entries must be in English. Translations into English are welcome.
Entry Fee: £32.00
Contact: Website: www.proversepublishing.com
General enquiries to the following email address: info@proversepublishing.com
Proverse Prize Administrators: proverseprize@proversepublishing.com
