Against the Grain are looking for a winning poem to submit to the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem. This year's judges are Abegail Morley, Jessica Mookherjee and Karen Dennison.

All three prize-winners will also be invited to read at an Against the Grain event, and winning poems will be published on the website.

Prizes:
• First prize: £100
• Second prize: £50
• Third prize: £25

Deadline: 30th November 2018.

International awards for Poetry, Flash Fiction, and Short Story.

Amazing to be in the fifth year of the Bare Fiction Prize. New and old writers alike all have a chance to win big cash prizes and publication within each of the three categories offered. Each entry is judged anonymously by our judges, with the poetry and flash fiction category judges reading every single entry in their category and our short story judge reading a longlist selected by Bare Fiction magazine editor, Robert Harper.
Deadline 31st October 2018

Adult: 1st Prize £500, 2nd prize £250, three 3rd prizes of £50.
Junior (7-11): 1st Prize £25; 2nd prize £15; 3rd Prize £10

Entry: Adults £5 per poem. Juniors £1 per poem

Entries to: BBAC (Poetry Competition), The Bull Theatre, 68 High Street, Barnet EN5 5SY

Competition anthology for winning/commended poems.
Entry Form and Rules: http://www.barnetarts.org.uk/bbac/poetry/index.htm

We are reading full-length poetry manuscripts for this year's Blue Light Books Prize. Submit September 1-October 31, 2018. Final judge: Adrian Matejka.

The Brotherton Poetry Prize is open to anyone in the world over the age of 18 who hasn't yet published a full collection of poems (a chapbook or pamphlet does not ...

Coast to Coast to Coast





Would you like a small portfolio of your poems stitched between handmade covers and published by Coast to Coast to Coast?





Poems may have been published individually. Please ensure you have copyright of work submitted

For poems of any length on any theme. Our competition will be judged by poet and editor, LUCY TURNBULL of OPTIMUM MAGAZINE. First prize is £100 Second £50 and all poems will be considered for our 2019 anthology.

Entry fees 1 poem £4 2 poems £7 3 poems £10 5 poems £14

All entries must be received by midnight on 30th April 2019.

SUBMISSION RULES:

Entry is FREE to everyone. World-Wide.

1) Send us five pages of poetry in a single MS Word document preferably as a Rich Text Format and with type set at 12 points in TNR. Name this document with your full name please.

2) You are welcome to send previously published BUT we must also see some unpublished work

3) In the body of the email we need your full name and snail-mail (postal) address (and a note to our many valued American friends; please add 'USA' because there are other countries in the world despite what Mr. Trump believes :-) )

4) In the 'subject' line of the email write 'erbacce-prize 2019'

5) PLEASE do not include 'frames'

And THAT IS IT. BUT; if you add anything else; an index, a commentary 'about you', or if you put your name and address in the MS Word document, then your submission will fail and we will not consider it. You see we judge every entry 'blind' and want nothing in the MS Word submission that can identify the author. However you MUST include a full name and address in the email itself.

Please send submissions to erbacce-press by clicking HERE to email us. You will receive a brief acknowledgement from us, if you don't, you have not followed submission guidelines.

To navigate site go to homepage and select from the menus.

Blog: www.eyewearpublishing.com/blogs/news

Welcome to Eyewear Publishing!

Here you can find our stylish hardcovers and paperbacks, including the new Squint series and our pamphlets, which made the Michael Marks Award shortlist last year.

"We admire these for the publisher's ambition in terms of the range of poetries on show, the quality of much of that work, and the consistently high production values that have already become a hallmark of this press." - Judges' comments, Michael Marks Award.

The theme of this year’s competition is The Spirit of Childhood. Childhood is a time of magic and mystery, powerful emotions and experiences that remain in our hearts a lifetime. Some of these experiences are wonderful and nourish us into old age, other experiences are more painful and cast long shadows that we struggle to shake.

Prizes: 1st prize: £150 2nd prize: £75 3rd prize: £50

1st Prize: €1,000; 2nd Prize :€500
Both winners will win a chapbook publication and 50 complimentary copies. The published chapbooks will be reviewed in Southword Journal and elsewhere.

The winning poets are also offered a reading and three nights' accommodation at the Cork 2019 International Poetry Festival (March 27th-30th, 2019) (www.corkpoetryfest.net)

The competition is open to new, emerging and established poets from any country. One of these winners will be the highest scoring manuscript entered by a debutant poet with no solo collection (full-length or chapbook) previously published. Up to 25 other entrants will be publicly listed as "highly commended".

Manuscripts can be between 16 and 23 pages in length, in the English language and the sole work of the entrant with no pastiches, translations or 'versions'. The poems can be in verse or prose.

There is an entrance fee of €25 for each manuscript. Entrants may enter more than one manuscript. The winners will be selected by a panel of renowned poets including Mary Noonan, Matthew Sweeney, Thomas McCarthy, James Harpur and Leanne O’Sullivan.

The winning chapbooks will be published by Southword editions in March 2019 and will be launched at the Cork International Poetry Festival (March 27-30, 2019). It will be offered for sale internationally through our own website and in selected independent book sellers.

Deadline: Saturday 30th of June, Midnight

We usually run three competitions per year which have cash prizes and are awarded by external guest judges. This means that there is a small submission fee and we require your work in hard copy. The last competition of 2018, on writing a letter to an influential person, was judged by Clare Harvey. The first one of 2019 is our Poetry competition which will be judged by Martin Grey who won the title of “Bard of Southwell” in 2018.

Competition information and rules should be obtained from us before sending in any entries. Please do not send in entries without reading the rules carefully as we will not accept any that do not conform to our rules.

Two winners will have a 52 page poetry collection published and receive 20 copies

•Submission: 15 poems up to 36 lines inc breaks

•Entry Fee: £15 per block of poems

•Closing Date: 31st January 2019



1. Please send one poem per sheet and submission as one document (if email). Poems must be your own work.



2. Entries are judged anonymously so poems must not bear any identifying marks.



3. Submitted poems may have been published online, in anthology or magazines but not as a complete collection.



4. ONLINE ENTRIES: Email address competitions@indigodreams.co.uk ONLY.

Send one email with name, address, collection title and PayPal transaction number. Subject heading ‘Geoff Stevens’. Send one subsequent email with same subject heading, collection title and poems as attachment. Send as Word Document or Rich Test File. NO PDF.



5. PRINT ENTRIES: Send collection title and poems in one envelope. Include a separate sealed envelope with name, address, collection title so that anonymity is maintained. Give PayPal transaction number or enclose cheque payable to ‘IDP’. Include postcard/sae if acknowledgement required and further sae for results. Submit to address below.



6. Winning collections will be up to 52 pages in length and published June 2019.



7. More than one entry may be submitted provided it is accompanied by the correct entry fee.



8. All entries will be treated as copies and cannot be returned.



9. By submitting to this competition you are agreeing to details of winners / short and longlisted entrants to be displayed on this website, social media and elsewhere.



10. See below for Payment and email links



Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2018,

Indigo Dreams Publishing,

24 Forest Houses,

Halwill,

Beaworthy,

Devon

Hosted by Tavistock Library and supported by Tavistock Heritage Trust as part of ‘Tavistock’s 1st Gothic and Neo-Gothic Celebration – Literature, Art, Architecture, Theatre, Film and Creative Fun.’

From Saturday the 12th of October and culminating in a market and author event on Saturday the 19th of October 2019.

This new celebration aims to encompass writing, film, drama and art activities. There will be a Gothic market for writers and traders to showcase their work and a range of related creative events
See website for details.

is for women over 60. Poems up to 40 lines on any theme. Judges: Julia Deakin and Janet Loverseed. Prizes: £100, £75, £25. Download rules and entry form from website or send sae to Grey Hen Press, PO Box 269, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 9FE. Closing date: 30 April. Entry Fee £3.00 per poem, £10 for four.

First Collection Pamphlet Competition

£25.00


We are looking for Three New Poets who will have a debut pamphlet published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press and receive 100 copies of their collection.

Hosted by Tavistock Library and supported by Tavistock Heritage Trust as part of ‘Tavistock’s 1st Gothic and Neo-Gothic Celebration – Literature, Art, Architecture, Theatre, Film and Creative Fun.’

From Saturday the 12th of October and culminating in a market and author event on Saturday the 19th of October 2019.

This new celebration aims to encompass writing, film, drama and art activities. There will be a Gothic market for writers and traders to showcase their work and a range of related creative events.

Theme: A poem in the gothic tradition incorporating folklore and myth.

Prizes: A cash prize will be offered to the overall winner 30% of all entry receipts will form the prize fund. There will also be a second prize of 30% of all the entry fees awarded to a ‘Gothic’ poem based around Tavistock and incorporating its Gothic and Neo-Gothic Heritage. Additional runners-up prizes of books will also be awarded. The prize winners will be notified approximately two weeks prior to the prize giving. The remaining 40% of the entry fees will be used for administration costs and for festival and library events.

Presentation of the Prizes: The results will be announced, and the prizes presented at a special event.

Judging: The judging will be in two stages: a final short list of poems will be judged by a panel of librarians, authors and publishers. Shortlisted entries will be ranked by a final judging panel.

Tips: The judges will be looking for interesting and original

Poets Meet Politics International Open Poetry Competition 2019 and that Christy Ducker has agreed to judge for us this year.
We will be awarding a first prize of €500, second of €250 and third of €100.

Entry is E12 and cam be up to 3 poems.

We invite entries for poems on any theme related to politics.
For more details on the prizes, our judge, entry requirements and other competition details, please click above
The closing date for entries is April 22nd 2019.

OPEN TO POETS WHO HAVE NOT HAD A FULL PAMPHLET OR COLLECTION PUBLISHED



TWO winners will have their debut pamphlet published by award-winning publishers

Indigo Dreams Publishing and receive a royalty contract plus 20 free copies

Submission: Complete pamphlet up to 30 poems or pages of poetry, 36 lines max (inc. breaks)

Entry Fee: £14 per submission

Closing Date: 30th September 2018

THE 2019 COMPETITION IS NOW OPEN. The deadline for the 2019 competition is 31st January 2019. The Judge is poet Ruth O'Callaghan and she will read all the submissions

The book will be A5 in format, perfect bound, with full colour covers (gloss laminated or matt laminated according to the winning author’s choice), between 50 pages minimum and 100 pages maximum in length. It will have an ISBN number and therefore be subject to ‘Legal Deposit’. This means that one copy will be sent to each of the major universities: Oxford, Cambridge, Cardiff, Dublin and Edinburgh, where they will be archived; and a further copy will be deposited with the British Library. There will be no need for a contract. The copyright will remain exclusively with the poet to do whatever he or she wishes with those rights. The deadline for the second competition is December 31st 2018. Results will be published on the Littoral Press website sometime in February 2019. Entrants will be charged £20.00 per manuscript.

Please read full details of the competition and its rules and conditions.
These can be found on the littoral press website-

www.southendpoetry.co.uk/littoral/Competition.html

50 poems will be longlisted and published in our 2018 anthology. 20 poems will be shortlisted and performed by the Live Canon ensemble at our prize giving event at Greenwich Theatre. 1 poem will receive a winning prize of £ 1000.

Every year Mslexia runs four competitions, open to women writers of all levels of experience. For prose writers, we have a Short Story Competition and a Novel Competition, and for writers of verse we have a Poetry Competition for single poems, and a Pamphlet Competition for completed collections.

With feedback and substantial monetary prizes available, our competitions were created to help women writers progress. Winners have gone on to secure publishing deals and literary agents after years of searching – this year it could be you. Good luck!

To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, poems and stories are invited in the Gothic tradition.

What does Gothic mean to you? Dark? Spooky? Vampires and ruined monasteries or perhaps something more subtle and uncanny? Maybe Southern Gothic, as in Faulkner or Anne Rice’s work for example, or Canadian Gothic is your thing. It’s up to you and your Gothic imagination.

Get writing – and chill us to the bone!





Prizes:
•First: The Canterbury Christ Church University Poetry Prize of £200
•Second: £100
•Third: £50

Judge: Sonia Overall

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Overton Poetry Prize

In memory of Professor Bill Overton (1946-2012), the School of the Arts, English and Drama offers this prize for a sequence of poems on any subject, up to 300 lines.

The first-placed entry will be published in chapbook form. 100 copies will be published, of which the winning poet will receive 50. Please see links below for examples of previous winners.

Two runners-up will each receive £50 book tokens.

The Overton Poetry Prize 2018 will close on 20th December 2018, and the winner will be announced in February 2019.

Judges:

Kerry Featherstone, Lecturer in Creative Writing

Carol Rowntree-Jones, Poet in Residence

(All entries will be anonymised before being read by the judges)

How to enter

Entries and payment of fee (£12 per sequence of poetry) can be made online.

Hard copy entries must be accompanied by a cheque to: Loughborough University, FAO: Grace Lewis, LU Arts, Martin Hall, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE11 3TU by 20th December 2018.

This year's competition is for poetry on any subject.

There are no style or length restrictions but it should be stressed

that a short poem is just as likely to be selected as a longer one.

Enter by midnight on 22st January 2019

1st prize is £100.

Entry fees are as follows; 1 poem £3.50 3 Poems £8.00 5 poems £10

Competition Judge; JIM BENNETT

1st - €500

Entry fees: from £5 (see website for early birds reduced fees) or free

Deadline: 31st March 2019

3 categories: Silver Wyvern Open – Formal verse – theme ‘Spirit’ (interpret as wished.

Max. lines all categories 42

Postal & Online entries.

See: http://old.poetryonthelake.org/

Competition 2019


We are pleased to announce the 7th poetry competition run by Poets & Players, one of Manchester’s leading organisers of poetry and music events.

OUR JUDGE FOR 2019 WILL BE KEI MILLER
POETS & PLAYERS PRIZE

Kei Miller will read ALL poems. All poems will be judged anonymously.


1st Prize: £600
2nd Prize: £200
3rd Prize: £100

Commended poets at the judge’s discretion.

Closing Date: 13 March 2019


Winners will be informed by 2 May 2019 and will be invited to read alongside Kei Miller at the prize awarding ceremony on the afternoon of Saturday 18 May 2019 at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. If you have not been notified by 2 May 2019, we are afraid you have not been successful.

Prizes:
1st £150.
2nd £100
3rd £50
A further £25 for the best West Sussex entry

Closing date: 28th February 2019.

Cost: £5.00 first poem and £3.50 for each additional submission.

Winners will be notified individually by 31st March 2019 & all results will be published on the Web Site.

Adjudicator: Mandy Pannett

The Teignmouth Poetry Festival 2019 Competition opens 1 November 2018. Poems on any subject, not exceeding 35 lines, will be judged by John Greening.

1st prize: £500 2nd prize: £250 3rd prize: £100

Extra prizes of £100, £50, £25 for poets within local postcodes -

Judge for this local competition is Julie-Ann Rowell

Shortlisted poets will be invited to read at Teignmouth Poetry Festival on 23 March 2019, and winning poems will be published on the website.

Our competitions are designed to recognise and reward talented writers who, following in the footsteps of William Allingham, seek to launch or further their careers. The Allingham Festival includes competitions for adult writers of poetry and flash fiction, and also for children. The festival offers readings and workshops led by nationally-recognised literary figures where aspiring authors can meet, share ideas, and discuss the emerging trends in the world of writing and publishing.

South Downs Poetry Festival 2019, in alliance with Binsted Arts, is holding a poetry competition for the award of The Binsted Prize. This year's judge will be James Simpson.

Prizes:
1st: £250
2nd: £150
3rd: £50

Poems may be on any subject. Fifty lines maximum. Poems must be original and unpublished. Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Please send two copies of each poem with a completed entry form. For further details, rules and entry forms please visit www.binsted.org/poetry-comp-19

Entry fee: £5 for the first poem £4 for each thereafter.

A prize-giving evening will take place on 7th June 2019 as part of Binsted Arts Weekend (June 7th-9th in Binsted, West Sussex). Winners will be invited to read and have their poems included on the Binsted Arts Festival and the South Downs Poetry Festival website. An anthology of winning and other poems is also planned.

The Brian Dempsey Memorial Competition




Thu 14 Mar 2019





This is a two-part competition, entry by email only, all rules and links for entering on Dempsey & Windle's website.

Submissions of 10 poems will be eligible for the Pamphlet Prize: publication of a 36 page pamphlet including 20 copies, plus £100 cash.

Submissions of 1 – 9 poems will be eligible for one of the three prizes in the Single Poem section: 1st prize: £75; 2nd prize: £50; 3rd prize: £25.

All long-listed entrants will receive the competition Anthology in which their poems will be published alongside invited poets.

Judges: Anna Saunders (founder of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival) will read all poems long-listed by Janice and Dónall Dempsey from the anonymous entries and select the winners. Poems can be on any subject, and must be unpublished and no longer than 40 lines including stanza breaks. No simultaneous entries, please.

The Charles Causley Poetry Competition has been set up to support the development of Charles Causley’s House in Launceston for poetry residencies and other literature activity. The Charles Causley Poetry Competition is now open for entries. 1st Prize: £2000. 2nd Prize: £250. 3rd Prize: £100 & 5 highly commended awards of £30 each.

The 2019 Writer in Residence Programme Launch

The Charles Causley Trust is pleased to announce two more residency opportunities at Cyprus Well, in Launceston, Cornwall (the poet’s former home owned by the Trust). These residencies, co-funded by Literature Works, will follow in the footsteps of such writers/poets as Alyson Hallett, Isobel Galleymore, Karen Hayes, Cahal Dallat and our most recent 2018 WIR’s, David Devanny and Jen Hadfield.

The two 2019 residencies, each of 3 months duration, are for writers interested in literary links to Charles Causley and Cornwall, as part of our larger, two year project entitled Fuelling the Flame. This project is grant aided by Arts Council England with significant support from Cornwall Council, Launceston Town Council, and the University of Plymouth.

Fuelling the Flame runs for two years from February 2018 and, in addition to the residencies programme, will support a wide range of events and activities to promote Causley’s legacy and engage with the local and wider community.

Please see the attached advert for full details of the residency programme and how to apply. The terms and conditions of the residency programme can also be accessed below. The closing date for applications is midnight on Monday 11th March.

THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT. Over £5,000 to be won.
•First prize: £3,000
•Second prize: £1,500
•Third prize: £750

To enter, visit the-tls.co.uk/poetry18

Closing date October 14, 2018.

Winner: £200, Publication in Prole 28 in April 2019.

Publication on the Prole website

2 x runner up prizes of £50, publication in Prole 28.

Publication on the Prole website.

£3.00 for first entry, £2.00 for any subsequent entries.

How to enter

Via our website and email – preferred.

Make the correct payment using the PayPal button, below.

Email your entry, including the text and PayPal transaction number within the body of the email, to: poetrycompetition@prolebooks.co.uk

By post

Make a cheque (GBP only, please) payable to

P Robertson and mail along with entry to:

Brett Evans

15 Maes - y - Dre

Abergele

Conwy

LL227HW

Winner: £200, Publication in Prole 28 in April 2019.

Publication on the Prole website

2 x runner up prizes of £50, publication in Prole 28.

Publication on the Prole website.

£3.00 for first entry, £2.00 for any subsequent entries.

How to enter

Via our website and email – preferred.

Make the correct payment using the PayPal button, below.

Email your entry, including the text and PayPal transaction number within the body of the email, to: poetrycompetition@prolebooks.co.uk

By post

Make a cheque (GBP only, please) payable to

P Robertson and mail along with entry to:

Brett Evans

15 Maes - y - Dre

Abergele

Conwy

LL227HW

We are thrilled to announce the launch of the White Review Poet’s Prize 2018. The Poet’s Prize was founded in 2017 with support from Jerwood Charitable Foundation, and is for English-language poets who are at the crucial stage of creating their debut pamphlet or collection. The winning poet will receive a significant financial reward of £1700, expert, personalised professional and editorial advice, and publication of their entry in The White Review. The Prize is open to residents of the UK and Ireland.



Crucially, the White Review Poet’s Prize only accepts entries of poetry portfolios (5–10 pages per portfolio), as opposed to single-poem entries.



The Poet’s Prize is also unique among UK poetry prizes in actively encouraging work which explores and expands the possibilities of the page-poetry form.



Last year’s Prize was awarded to Lucy Mercer, whose portfolio was published in The White Review No. 22.



The judges for the 2018 White Review Poet’s Prize are Anne Boyer, Kayo Chingonyi, and Lavinia Greenlaw.



An award ceremony will be held in London, in early December, to announce the winner.



The submission period is 5 September 2018 until 5.00pm on 6 November 2018.



THE JUDGES



Anne Boyer’s poetry books include The Romance of Happy

Only poems of 40 lines or less will be considered.


•The poems may be in any style and cover any subject.


•Work deemed to be offensive will not be considered.


•All entries must be the work of the poet submitting.


•Previously published poems are not permitted.


•We will not be accepting translations of poetry.


•No changes can be made to poems once they have been submitted.


•Any entries in violation to the above will be disqualified.


•No refunds will be given once work has been submitted.


•The decision from our judges is final.


•No correspondence regarding entries will be entered into.




Entries can be made online via Pay Pal or by post

Entries can be made online via Pay Pal or by post

To enter the competition, please pay the appropriate fee on Paypal.

Email your submissions to submissions@yafflepress.co.uk

Please submit all poems on one document via a word/docx. attachment.

Please also include your name, contact details and address in the body of the email.

No names should appear on the submitted document.


Alternatively, you can post entries to:

5 - 7 Laycock Lane, Laycock, Keighley. BD20 0PH

along with a cheque with the appropriate fee, made payable to Mark Connors.

Deadline: February 24, 2019

Full Rules ;check website above.

The Poetry Society’s annual National Poetry Competition is one of the most prestigious prizes in the world for previously unpublished single poems and has a first prize of £5,000.

2018

The 2018 National Poetry Competition is now open for entries! Judged by Kei Miller, Kim Moore and Mark Waldron, the deadline is 31 October 2018. Enter online at npc.poetrysociety.org.uk.

First Prize: £1,000 plus free weekend at the poetry festival including accommodation and Festival Pass
•Second Prize: £300 plus a free Festival Pass
•Third Prize: £150 plus ticket for the Festival supper for two





Poems must be original, unpublished and not accepted for publication. They should be written in English and not exceed 50 lines.

Online entries are £5 each because of additional admin costs in time and printing.

Judge: Daniella Hope

judged by Jo Shapcott & Daljit Nagra, first prize £2,000, second prize £1,000 third prize: a week-long creative-writing course at the arvon centre of your choice with thanks to arvon: home of creative writing plus with thanks to leading poetry magazines & poetry publishers: 5 prizes of book bundles each with 6 latest poetry titles from Bloodaxe books,Carcanet,Faber & Faber, Nine arches press & Seren books 5 prizes of 1-yr poetry magazine subscriptions from Under the radar, Poetry wales PN Review, New Ohio Review & Mslexia.
Entry Fee: £6/€7/$7.50 for 1st poem & £4/€5/$5 for each subsequent poem in same submission
Contact: Submit via e-mail or post, for full details see http://www.coffeehousepoetry.org/prizes

FIRST PRIZE £600
SECOND PRIZE £300
THIRD PRIZE £100
CLOSING DATE: APRIL 30TH 2019

Our competition celebrates Waltham Forest as London’s first Borough of Culture in 2019. The theme is “A Bright Future” and the entries will be judged by local poet Meryl Pugh.





The competition runs to midnight Friday September 7th 2018.Winners will be notified before the prize giving on 29th October at Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre Pub, Walthamstow




There are three sections: National, Young Poets and a Local Prize for those living and working in the borough.

The prizes for the National Competition are: 1st prize (£300), 2nd (£200) and 3rd (£100). For the Young Poet and Local Competitions the prizes are identical: 1st (£50), 2nd (£30) and 3rd (£20).

For the National and Local Competitions there’s an entry fee of £3 for the first poem and £1 for each subsequent poem (up to a maximum of four entries). The Young Poets competition for young poets under the age of 18 is free to enter. Poems can be sent by post, email, or entered online, via s_ubmittable


How to enter is https://pctothepowerof2.wordpress.com/enter/

The 12th International Welsh Poetry Competition 2018 is now open and accepting entries! Judge - Sally Spedding. 50 lines maximum. 1st prize - £500 2nd Prize - £250 3rd Prize - £100 plus 17 runners up published on website and future anthology.
Entry Fee: £5 per poem (£6 PayPal)
Contact:

Entry forms, rules, past winners, anthologies available from: http://www.welshpoetry.co.uk

This year’s first prize is €1,000, with two runners-up prizes of €200 and €100 respectively.

There is an entry fee of €10 for up to three poems. The closing entry date is Friday, Sept 21st, 2018 at 6 pm. Winners will be announced during the festival on Thursday the 25th of October 2018. Shortlisted entrants will be notified one week in advance and invited to attend an open-mic night before the prizewinners are publically announced.

Competition Details

This annual competition is now in its sixteenth year and alternates between poetry and short stories. The competition in 2018 requires poetry to be entered.

Entry is free and open to anyone in the world over the age of 16 years. Individuals are limited to entering two poems only.
First Prize

A writing course at the Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre or a UK Arvon Writing Centre. The winner will be announced at an event to be held at the AK Bell Library in Perth on Friday 26th April 2019.

Second Prize

£100 Book Token.

Local Prize

A £50 book token will be awarded for the best work from a resident of Perth and Kinross.

Competition Rules
•The deadline for all entries is Friday 1st February 2019.
•All entrants must be 16 years of age or over.
•Poems must not exceed 40 lines.
•A maximum of two poems may be submitted.
•All entries must be typed or word processed, on one side of the paper only.
•Two copies of each poem submitted must be provided.
•Entries may be in English or Scots.
•The competition is open to anyone throughout and outside the United Kingdom.
•All entries are judged anonymously and the name of the writer must not appear on the manuscript.
•Poems must not have been published, self-published, published on a website, broadcast or featured among the winners in another competition before 1st February 2019.
•Competition entries cannot be returned - please do not include a pre-paid envelope.
•The Judge’s decision is final and no correspondence can be entered into.
•Alterations cannot be made to poems once they have been submitted.
•Entries must be accompanied by an entry form (download below).
•There is no entry fee for this competition.
•Local entries (writers living in Perthshire at time of entry) can also be additionally entered for the local Soutar prize. Please tick the box on the entry form if this applies.
•It is the entrant’s responsibility to ensure that the above rules are adhered to.

This year’s open poetry competition will be adjudicated by Anna Saunders, Director of the Cheltenham Poetry Festival.
Poems should be no longer than 40 lines.
Four prizes will be awarded: 1st prize £200; Two Runners Up £50 each; Special Wirral prize £50 for a poet living or working in Wirral.
Entry: £4 per poem or £10 for 3 poems
Enter online and full details at www.wirralpoetryfestival.org.uk or by post. The closing date for the receipt of poetry competition entries is 23.59 hours on Friday 22nd March 2019. Winners will be notified by 19th April 2019, and invited to attend a prize-giving event during our First ever Wirral Poetry Festival Weekend 11th- 12th May 2019