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Competitions
"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.
Now displaying records 1 to 20 of 42
Wasafiri New Writing Prize 2010 | Closing Date: 30-Jul-10
Details:For anyone who has not published a complete book. Creative submissions in poetry, fiction or life writing. Prize £300 in each category. 3000 word limit. Judges: Susheila Nasta, Romesh Gunesekera, Moniza Alvi and Marina Warner. Mark envelopes 'New Writing Prize'.
Entry Fee: £5
Contact:
Wasafiri, The Open University in London, 1-11 Hawley Crescent, London NW1 8NP
Website: www.wasasfiri.org
Essex Poetry Festival 10th Open Poetry Competition | Closing Date: 30-Jul-10
Details:Sole Adjudicator: Kathryn Simmonds. First prize £1000. For poems of up to 40 lines.
Entry Fee: £6 per poem or £20 for 5 poems
Contact:
Essex Poetry Festival Competition, 15 Seeleys, Old Harlow, Essex CM17 0AD
Website: www.essex-poetry-festival.co.uk
Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2010 | Closing Date: 31-Jul-10
Details:For poets aged 11-17 years old. Judges: Jane Draycott and Luke Kennard. Fifteen overall winners aged 11-17, including up to three international winners, will have their poems printed in the winners' anthology. Fifteen 15-17 year old winners will attend a week-long residential course at one of the prestigious Arvon Centres. Five 11-14 year olds will win a short residency to their school by a leading poet. All 100 winners receive poetry books, a year's Youth Membership to the Poetry Society and the opportunity to contribute to YM magazine. The three schools who inspire the most entries will receive a special selection of books from Faber & Faber, Bloodaxe Books or Salt Publishing for their libraries
Entry Fee: £0
Contact:
Foyle Young Poets, The Poetry Society, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX
Email: fyp@poetrysociety.org.uk
Tel: 020 7420 9880
Website: www.foyleyoungpoets.org
Essex Young Poet Of The Year Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 31-Jul-10
Details:FREE Entry Competition is only open to children attending school or resident in Essex. School are invited to submit entries from their pupils. Individual entries also welcome. Categories: Four Age Groups: 7 and under , 11 and under, 14 and under , 16 and under Prizes: book tokens for first, second and third places in each category. In addition (subject to funding) approximately 30 of the best entries will be published in a children's poetry anthology. Free copy of anthology to each winner and their school.
Entry Fee: £0
Contact: Full Details : http://www.essex-poetry-festival.co.uk/eyp.html
John Betjeman Young People's Poetry Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 31-Jul-10
Details:The competition is open to 11-14 year-olds living in the British Isles. Entrants are limited to one poem each about their local surroundings or any aspect thereof, whether it be a house, a street, a garden, a park, a city or a wider landscape. The spirit behind the competition is to encourage young people to understand and appreciate the importance of place. The prize is £1,000 (£500 to the winner and £500 to the English department of his or her school).
Entry Fee: £0
Contact:
The John Betjeman Young People's Poetry Competition c/o Justin Gowers,72 Vicars Hill, London SE13 7JL
For further details, see www.betjemanpoetrycompetition.com
Wells Festival of Literature Poetry and Short Story Competitions 2010 | Closing Date: 31-Jul-10
Details:First prize £500. Poetry category is for poems of up to 40 lines on any subject, showing imagination, skill and originality. Short stories should be between 1800 and 2000 words.
Entry Fee: £5 per poem or story
Contact:
Poetry Competition, 2 The Gardens, Sadler Street, Wells, Somerset BA5 2SF
Website: www.wlitf.co.uk
The Manchester Poetry Prize 2010 | Closing Date: 06-Aug-10
Details:Open internationally and will award a cash prize of £10,000 to the writer of the best portfolio of poetry submitted. The competition is open to entrants aged 16 or over; there is no upper age limit. A bursary for study at MMU will be awarded to one entrant aged 18-25, as part of the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award.
Entry Fee: £15
Contact:
To find out more about the Manchester Poetry Prize, and enter online, go to: www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk If you have any queries, or would like a printable entry form for postal submission, contact:
James Draper j.draper@mmu.ac.uk 0161 247 1787
Under the direction of Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University is launching the second Manchester Poetry Prize ? a major international literary competition celebrating excellence in creative writing.
The Manchester Poetry Prize is open internationally and will award a cash prize of £10,000 to the writer of the best portfolio of poetry submitted. The competition is open to entrants aged 16 or over; there is no upper age limit. In addition to the main prize, a bursary for study at MMU will be awarded to one entrant aged 18-25 as part of the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award.
All entrants are asked to submit a portfolio of three to five poems (total maximum length 120 lines). The poems can be on any subject, and written in any style, but must be new work, not published or submitted for consideration elsewhere.
The prizes will be awarded at a gala dinner hosted at Manchester Metropolitan University as part of the 2010 Manchester Literature Festival. Tickets for this event will be on sale soon.
First prize: £10,000
Deadline for entries: 6th August 2010
Entry fee: £15
Judges: Simon Armitage, Lavinia Greenlaw and Daljit Nagra
Arvon International Poetry Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 16-Aug-10
Details:The 2010 Arvon International Poetry Competition is now open for entries. This prestigious biennial poetry competition was founded by Ted Hughes in 1980 and is one of the UK's most important open poetry competitions. This year the first prize has increased to £7,500 - the highest ever offered in the competition and one of the most generous prizes available for a single poem. There's also a special prize of £500, offered in association with The Wenlock Poetry Festival, for the best poem on the theme 'The Pity of War...' The competition will be judged by Britain?s Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, with Elaine Feinstein and Sudeep Sen. It?s open to anyone aged 16 or over, from any country. Poems must be written in English, on any subject, and can be a maximum of 42 lines in length. Previous winners include former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion, Don Paterson and Siān Hughes.
Entry Fee: £7 per poem
Contact:
Enter online at http://arvonfoundation.org/p236.html
Havant Literary Festival Open Poetry Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 16-Aug-10
Details:For poems up to 40 lines, Theme: Transition. Judge: Charles Bennett. First Prize £200, Second prize £100, Third Prize £50.Entry forms available from website.
Entry Fee: £4
Contact:
Havant Literary Festival Poetry Comp, PO Box 231, Havant, Hampshire PO9 9DU
Email: 2009hlf@googlemail.com
Website: www.havantlitfest.org.uk
Sentinel Literature Festival Poetry Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 20-Aug-10
Details:Previously unpublished poems on any subject, in any style, up to 40 lines long. Prizes: £250, £130, and £70, plus first publication in Sentinel Literature Festival Anthology. Judge: Roger Elkin
Entry Fee: £5 per poem, £13/3poems or £20/5poems
Contact:
Sentinel Poetry Movement, Unit 136, #113-115 George Lane, London E18 1AB
Website: www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk
Museum of London Poetry Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 25-Aug-10
Details:Latin isn't dead. Prove it by writing a poem inspired by a Latin word or phrase. Entry is free. All entries must be original and unpublished. You must be aged 14-24 to be eligible to enter. Please include your name, age and full contact details on your entry. Entries are limited to one poem per person, maximum 400 words. 1st Prize is a digital e-book reader.
Entry Fee: £0
Contact: Send your poem to lsawyer@museumoflondon.org.uk
Black Diamond Poetry Prize 2010 | Closing Date: 27-Aug-10
Details:Adjudicated by Grace Wells. For poems of up to 40 lines.
Entry Fee: £entry fee ?3 for the first poem, and ?2 for each subsequent poem
Contact: Michael Massey, c/o Castlecomer Library, Kilkenny st., Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland
Salopian Poetry Society's Annual Open Poetry Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 31-Aug-10
Details:For poems of up to 40 lines. First prize £200. Adjudicator: John Waddington-Feather F.R.S.A.
Entry Fee: £3 per poem or four for £10 for non members and £2 per poem for society members
Contact:
Irene Hoult, 5 Squires Close, Madeley, Telford, Shropshire TF7 5RU
Torbay Open Poetry Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 31-Aug-10
Details:First prize: £800. Judge: Wendy French. For poems of up to 50 lines.
Entry Fee: £4 per poem or 3 poems for £10, 6 poems for £20
Contact:
The Administrator, c/o 6 The Mount, Furzeham, Brixham, Devon TQ5 8QY
Baskalier Publishing Poetry Anthology Competition | Closing Date: 31-Aug-10
Details:There are two categories: Schools (age 11-16) and Open (age 16+) The theme for the competition is Extinction. You may interpret the theme however you wish, as long as it is science-based, e.g. extinction of animals, plants, volcanoes or fire. Poems must be a maximum of 40 lines (including white space between stanzas).
Entry Fee: £2 per poem
Contact:
Poetry Competition, Baskalier Publishing, 85 Cavalier Road, Old Basing, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG24 7ER
Cheques payable to Karen Jones.
Website: www.baskalierpublishing.com
Nottingham Open Poetry Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 31-Aug-10
Details:First prize £300. Sole adjudicator, John Siddique. For poems of no more than 40 lines.
Entry Fee: £3 per poem or £10 for four poems
Contact:
The Competition Secretary, 38 Harrow Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 7DU
Tenby Arts Festival Writing Competition | Closing Date: 31-Aug-10
Details:For poetry of up to 40 lines, or short stories of up to 1500 words. First prize in each category is £150.
Entry Fee: £4 per poem or short story, £6 for two poems, £8 for three poems
Contact:
Writing Competition, c/o The Swallows, Stammers Lane, Rushy Lake, Saundersfoot SA69 9PB
Website: www.tenbyartsfest.co.uk
Aesthetica Creative Works Competition 2010 | Closing Date: 31-Aug-10
Details:The Competition has three categories, Artwork, Poetry and Fiction. Winners and finalists are published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual. Poems should be no more than 40 lines. Winners of each category receive £500 prize money plus other prizes
Entry Fee: £10 for two poems
Contact: Website: www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm
Kudos July/August Competition | Closing Date: 31-Aug-10
Details:What would happen if somebody like Philip Larkin (poem) or Sir Peter Ustinov (prose) had a twin - and they ended up lost in Nineveh? All you have to do is email 1 entry, with 'Nineveh' as subject; no attachments. Answer: in a poem (maximum 30 lines; extra points if you make them rhyme...), or 50 word short, short story/ intro to a short story - first six people to get in touch can have the option of writing a short story: 1000 words (extra points if you include the 3 words: Larkin, Peter and Nineveh). Plus, free copy of magazine if you can tell me which competition listing the words 'Nineveh' and 'Ustinov' come from, in this page, Archive: UK Competitions 2009 www.kudoswritingcompetitions.com/?page_id=2434 Overall Winner: 1st prize is a year's subs to either Kudos or Orbis, plus publication on website and invitation to submit work for Orbis Winner in each category: complimentary copy of current issue of Kudos, plus 1 free copy of the magazine. Runners-up: 1 free copy
Entry Fee: £0
Contact:
Email:
baldock.carole@googlemail.com
Website: www.kudoswritingcompetitions.com
Adult Regionals | Closing Date: 03-Sep-10
Details:Poems can be about anything and will be to celebrate the company's 22nd anniversary. There is no line limit and you can send in a maximum of two poems.
Entry Fee: £0
Contact: Forward Press, Remus House, Coltsfoot Drive, Woodston, Peterborough PE2 9JX
Telephone: 01733890099
Email: info@forwardpress.co.uk
Website: www.forwardpress.co.uk
