Poetry Competitions
Here is a selection of poetry competitions in closing date order. Please email details (no attachments, thank you) of any competitions you are organising so we can promote them on NAWG's website.
When entering competitions do not forget to mention you found out about them on the NAWG website.
For Writing Competitions take a look at our Writing Competition Page
Monthly or On-going Competitions
Poetry Library
Find all the current UK poetry competitions at:
www.poetrylibrary.org.uk/competitions
The AAIR Charity Poetry Competition.
Title of competition: Poets can use their own titles or use
one of these three suggested titles
'My Asthma'
'The Incomplete Breath'
'What a Wheeze'
Brief for Entries: The AAIR charity invites anyone touched
by asthma to write a poem about how it affects them or people they know
(they do not have to be asthma sufferers themselves). The poem can be in any
format: funny, moving, personal experience, rhyming or not - as long as it
says something about asthma.
Aim of the competition:
The competition will help
highlight the work carried out by the AAIR Charity to raise money for vital
research into the causes and better treatments of asthma.
Deadline for entries:
30th April 2008.
The number of lines/words per poem: No restrictions
Maximum number of entries per poet: Trhee
Cost per entry: Free
Address to which entries should be sent: The AAIR Charity,
Mailpoint 810, Level F, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road,
Southampton. Hants. SO16 6YD. Or email to
caroline@aaircharity.org (Subject - Poetry Competition). Entry
forms can be downloaded from our website
www.aaircharity.org
Categories:
There will be one overall winner as well as a winner and runner-up from two
age categories (Under 18 and Over 18)
Prizes: Our competition sponsors: Waterstones Book Store in
Southampton and A & A Business Supplies will provide vouchers, stationary
materials and a cash prize for the overall winner.
Prizes will be presented
by AAIR patron & ITV Meridian presenter Fred Dinenage
on World Asthma Day (May 6th) at Waterstones
book store, Southampton. Fred said:
“I am delighted to be presenting these awards for a second year. I
always admire anyone who can write poetry, and especially those who
can write creatively - and sometimes with a lot of humour - about
such a serious condition as asthma.”
Full details and rules are available at www.aaircharity.org
Poetry On The Lake
Eighth International Poetry Competition. Adjudicators: Jo Shapcott, Penelope
Shuttle, Michael Swan. Silver Wyvern Prize: £400 + Alessi 'Wyvern' bowl, £100,
£50 x 2. (60 lines; theme ‘Colour').
Bill Winter Award: £50 + Alessi bowl (10 lines; open theme).
Formal verse: £50 + Alessi bowl (40 lines; open theme).
Line illustrations (open theme) for anthology.
Autumn awards & readings on Lake Orta.
N.B. to date, prizewinners have also received hotel nights and dinners at autumn awards.
Guidelines at
www.poetryonthelake.org
Email poetryonthelake@yahoo.co.uk
or write: G.Griffin, Poetry on the Lake, Isola San Giulio, 28016 Orta NO, Italy.
Virginia Warbey Poetry Prize 2008
Closing Date: 19th May
Judge: Gillian Clarke
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1st Prize = £800 |
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2nd Prize = £350 |
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3rd Prize = £200 |
Ten runners-up prizes: a year's subscription to Poetry Nottingham. Entry fee £3.00/poem (£12 for 5)
The prize giving event will be held in October, and an anthology of winning poems will be available.
Entries to be postmarked by 19th May 2008. Entry forms and full details from: CFW Poetry, PO Box 474, Eastleigh SO50 0AN.
Details and downloadable entry forms available at: www.poetrypf.co.uk/images/compwarbey2008.pdf
Indigo Dreams Press Booklet Competition 2008
Three Winners will have an A5
Booklet (to 44 pages) of their poetry printed and each will receive 50 copies.
Submission: Selection of 10 to 15 poems, maximum 36 lines. Entry Fee: £15 per block of poems.
Cheque payable Indigo Dreams Press and entries to Indigo Dreams Press, 8 Reynolds Court, Hildersley, Ross-On-Wye, HR9 7NE. Please email any queries to indigodreamspress@tiscali.co.uk or sae for reply to above address.
Full details/email/overseas entries
visit
www.indigodreamspress.co.uk
Charnwood Arts' miniWORDS 2008 competition.
Saturday 31st May 2008
There are three categories in this year's competition:
1) miniSTORIES - a narrative in prose or verse in 50 words or less.
2) miniVERSE - any verse form you choose so long as the word count is
between 25 and 75 words.
3) HAIKU - any form of haiku from traditional to contemporary western
forms including the 'zip'.
Each category carries a £250 first prize winner. Second and third place, commended and highly commended will also be awarded in each category (although there will be no prize for this). Entry is completely free and
you may enter each category up to three times each.
Visit the website now for full details and to enter using the online submission form: www.miniwords2008.sharedspace.org
Open Poetry Competition.
Closing May 31st 2008.
£100 1st prize. Publication for best entries. Entry fee £3 per poem. £12 up to 6 poems. Max length 40 lines.
Plus regular web-based competitions: poetry, short story, flash fiction and genre challenges – details on the website.
Or send an SAE for details to Earlyworks Press, Creative Media Centre, 45 Robertson Street, Hastings Sussex TN34 1HL or visit
2nd Annual Ted Walters International Short Story and Poetry Competition 2008
Closing date: 31st May 2008
1st prize Short Story Category: Competition Winner £200, Runner up will receive £50
1st Prize Poetry Category: Competition Winner £200, Runner up will receive £50
Fee: £3.00 for the first short story or poem, £2.50 for each after that
The University of Liverpool Creative Writing Society for Lifelong Learning will donate £1 from each and every poem and short story entered to the Macmillan Cancer Support, which is once again our chosen charity for the second year running
Competition entry form and rules are available from: thomas.mcbride2@sky.com
Yeovil Literary Prize: Opportunities for Novelists, Poets & Short Story Writers
Closing date: 31 May
NOVELISTS – do you find it hard to discover a prize with a category for you? Look no further. The Yeovil Literary Prize is open to novelists as well as poets and short story writers.
Novel - The Betty Bolingbroke-Kent Award. Synopsis and 3 Chapters (combined
maximum 15,000 words). Judge: Margaret Graham. First prize £1,000. Entry fee
£10.
Short Story. maximum 2,000 words. Judge: Judith Allnatt. First prize £500. Entry
fee £5.
Poetry. maximum of 40 Lines. Judge: Julian Stannard. First prize £500. Entry Fee
£5; £8 for 2; £10 for 3.
The Western Gazette Literary Award - for the best entry in any category from
Somerset, Dorset or South West Wiltshire, a trophy + £100
More info:
www.yeovilprize.co.uk
PRIZES
The Nationwide prize for Rhyming Poetry £150
The NLG prize for Free Verse £150
Second (in each) 50
Third (in each) 25
Commended (in each) 10
Judge: Dr. Charles Bennett
Prize winning poets will be invited to read their poems at the Awards Ceremony
at the Northampton Guildhall on Thursday 26th June 2008, at 7.00 pm.
The winning poems will be posted on the BBC and NLG websites
For further details, rules and entry forms please visit
www.northamptonliteraturegroup.org.uk/competition.html
Or send SAE to:
Pat Archer
7 Cattle Hill
Northampton
NN3 9DU
01604 410090
The Poetry London Competition
This year's judge is Kathleen Jamie.
Winners will receive the following prizes: First Prize £1000, Second Prize £500, Third Prize £200 and Commendation Prizes, four of £75 each. Winners will be notified by 1st August 2008, the first, second and third prize-winners will be published in the Autumn 2008 issue of Poetry London, and the prizes will be awarded at our Autumn launch reading at Foyles Bookshop in London, Wednesday evening, 15th October.
For competition rules and an entry form see: www.poetrylondon.co.uk
The Dawntreader Poetry Awards 2008
1st Place £75, 2nd Place £50, 3rd Place £25. Entry Fee £3 per poem; £10 per 4 poems
Subject: Rustic, Spiritual, Environmental, Legend. Style: Any. Max length: 40 Lines.
No name on poems but covering sheet with titles, name and address.
Contact: Dawntreader Poetry Awards 2007, PO Box 77, Bull Pitch, Dursley GL11 4WW
Full details/email/overseas
entries visit
www.indigodreamspress.co.uk
Indigo Dreams Press Poetry Awards 2008
1st Place £100, 2nd Place £75, 3rd Place £25. Entry Fee £3 per poem; £10 per 4 poems; £2.50 each additional.
Any subject or style.
Max 40 lines single spaced poems.
No name on poems but covering sheet with titles name and address.
Cheques to Indigo Dreams
Press. Submit to Indigo Dreams Press, 8 Reynolds Court, Hildersley,
Ross-On-Wye HR9 7NE Queries with sae to above address or email:
indigodreamspress@tiscali.co.uk
Full details/email/overseas
entries visit
www.indigodreamspress.co.uk
Envoi International Open Poetry Competition
Deadline 20 June.
Adjudicator: Nigel McLoughlin. Prizes: £150, £100 & £50, + 3 annual subscriptions to runners up. Poem per sheet + sheet with name, address, email and poem titles.
Any style or theme up to 40 lines, previously unpublished, not submitted elsewhere.
Fee: £3 per poem/ 5 poems –
£12 to 'Cinnamon Press' by post + sae – Meirion House, Glan yr afon,
Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, LL41 3SU.
| The Welsh Poetry Competition 2008
Poems in English, £3 to enter, entry forms from website or SAE. Judge - John Evans |
Cinnamon Press Writing Awards
Deadlines 30 June
Poetry Collection: 1st prize - £100 & publishing contract. Runners up anthology. Submit 10 poems up to 40 lines.
Entries by post + sae & details - name, address, email, working title, nom de plume - to: Meirion House, Glan yr afon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, LL41 3SU.
Details
www.cinnamonpress.com
The Joshua Foundation Poetry Competition.
Theme: Children. Adult and children's categories.
Entry fee: £2 per poem adults/£1 per poem children. (Cheques payable to the Joshua Foundation). Please send all poems to: Poetry Comp, 5 Windsor Street, Caerphilly, Mid Glamorgan CF83 1FW. nashmailbox11-poetrycomp@yahoo.co.uk.
All proceeds go to the Joshua Foundation, which provides holidays and experiences for children and their families where the child is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Reg. Charity No. 1072365. www.thejoshuafoundation.co.uk
The Manchester Poetry Prize 2008.
First prize: £10,000*
The Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University is launching The Manchester Poetry Prize* - a new literary competition celebrating excellence in creative writing. The Manchester Poetry Prize is open to writers internationally, and will award a cash prize of £10,000* to the writer of the best portfolio of poems submitted. In addition, a bursary for study at MMU will be awarded to an entrant aged 18 to 25 as part of the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award*.
Entrants are asked to submit a portfolio of poetry (three to five poems; the total length of the portfolio should not exceed 120 lines). The poems can be on any subject but must be new work, not published elsewhere. Entrants can submit work via the competition website www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk, or by post using an entry form.
If you have any queries, or would like a printed entry pack, please contact: James Draper, Project Manager: Writing School, Manchester Metropolitan
University, Manchester, United Kingdom . Telephone : +44 (0) 161 247 1787.
Email : j.draper@mmu.ac.uk
Writing School website: www.hlss.mmu.ac.uk/english/writingschool
Poetry Prize website: www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk
*Terms and conditions apply. See: www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk for details.
Essex Poetry Festival 8th Open Poetry Competition
Closing date 30th August 2008
First Prize £500, Second £200, Third £100 and 3 runner-up prizes of £10 book tokens.
This years judge will be Catherine Smith.
Prize-giving will be at the Essex Poetry Festival in October
Winners & runners-up will be invited to read their winning poems at the festival. Winning poems will be published on the Festival website
For details of rules and entry fee visit Essex Poetry Festival website
www.essex-poetry-festival.co.uk
32nd YEAR OF PUBLISHING QUARTERLY MAGAZINE - “SALOPEOT” poetry prize
The Salopian Poetry Society will be holding their 32nd Annual Open Poetry Competition this year with a top prize of £200. There will be a second prize of £100 and a third prize of £50. There will also be three prizes of £30 plus one year’s free subscription of the magazine “Salopeot” worth £10 for each of the six winners to commence from December 2008.
For members of the Salopian Poetry Society, the fee of £2 per poem will stay the same but for non-members the fee will be £3 per poem or four poems for £10. Anyone joining The Society before the closing date on August 31st will be allowed the rate of £2 per poem.
The adjudicator will be Hilary Llewellyn-Williams. The Competition Secretary is Irene Hoult.
A self-addressed and stamped envelope must be sent to Lilian Parker, of 54 Coronation Drive, Donnington, Telford TF2 8HY, for an entry form.
The Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest
Deadline: July 31, 2008
Winners will be announced on August 31, 2008
Open to everyone whether experienced or not. This competition welcomes anyone who loves to arrange words into beautiful art or to write a short story that is worth telling. And to all who have the ability to dream. Write your best short story or poem for a chance to win cash prizes. All works must be original. www.dreamquestone.com
Guidelines:
(1) Write a poem, thirty lines or fewer on any subject, style or form,
single or double line spacing, neatly hand printed or typed.
And/or
(2) Write a short story five pages maximum, single or double line spacing, on any subject or theme, creative writing, fiction or non-fiction (including essay compositions, diary, journal entries and screenwriting). Must also be neatly hand printed or typed.
Multiple poem and story entries are accepted
Prizes:
Writing Contest
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First Prize: $500 |
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Second Prize: $250 |
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Third Prize: $100
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Poetry Contest
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First Prize: $250 |
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Second Prize: $125 |
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Third Prize: $50 |
Entry
fees:
Writing Contest entry fee is: $10 per short
story
Poetry Contest entry fee is: $5 per poem
To send
entries by mail:
Include title and story or poem, your name, address, phone, email, brief
biographical info. (Tell us a little about yourself) on the coversheet, add
a self-addressed stamped envelope for entry confirmation. Mail entries/fees
payable to: Dreamquestone.com
Dream Quest One
Poetry &
Writing Contest
P.O. Box
3141
Chicago,
IL 60654
Visit www.dreamquestone.com for further details, to print out an entry form or to enter online
Jo Cowell Competition
Closing date 19 September
The competition is run annually by Ormskirk Writers Club, and is one of the best known in the UK. The genre of the competition changes, ranging through short story, non-fiction and poetry. This year the competition is for poetry. Alison Chisholm, author of eight collections of poetry and three books of advice for poets, is this year’s judge. She gives readings and tutors courses all over the UK, writes poetry columns for ‘Writing Magazine’ and ‘Springboard’, as well as regularly adjudicating competitions.
Poems of up to 40 lines in any style are acceptable.
Wonderful prizes of £150, £100 and £50 will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, while entry fees are £3 for the first, and £2 for each subsequent entry.
Entry forms and full details of the competition can be obtained by sending a sae to The Competition Co-ordinator, OWLS, 14 Tower Hill, Ormskirk, L39 2EF, and by emailing dee_mcbuc@yahoo.co.uk or ikargar@tiscali.co.uk
For further details of Ormskirk
Writers, please contact Judy Ingham on 01695 423141.
Closing date: Sept 30 2008
Mostly Life (a sister site of Leaf Books: www.mostlylife.com ) invites you to submit humorous material in any publishable medium imaginable: writing (fiction or non-fiction, including comic verse), videos (live-action or animated), audio files, cartoon strips, still pictures, games and anything else that comes to mind. All original, previously-unpublished and non-offensive material will be considered. Video/audio material should ideally be no longer than five or six minutes - remember that it has to quickly capture and then maintain its audience's attention. Similarly, writing should ideally not go beyond a couple of pages.
Entry fee: £3 per entry, £10 for four entries.
One winning entry will receive £200 and publication on the Mostly Life website. Other selected entries may also be published if they sufficiently tickle the judges' fancy. The winner or winners will be announced on the Leaf and the Mostly Life website.
All copyright remains with the authors.
Enter online - and pay via Paypal or credit card. Note, the payments go to the mothership at Leaf Books.
Or enter by post: Mostly Life, c/o Leaf Books, GTi Suite, Valleys Innovation Centre, Navigation Park, Abercynon CF45 4SN.
The competition will be judged by the Mostly Life team.
Cannon Poets'
Rules: A poem between 20 and 40 lines
Theme: Play
For full details and an entry form see: www.cannonpoets.co.uk
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