Legendary Liverpool poet Brian Patten will be judging the forthcoming Milestones poetry competition, run by Write Out Loud on behalf of the Milestone Society. Details of how to enter the competition – which opens for submissions in March – are now on the Write Out Loud website.

Brian Patten’s poetry, along with that of Roger McGough and Adrian Henri, featured in the bestselling Penguin anthology The Mersey Sound that has inspired successive generations of young poets. That anthology was published in 1967, so that makes 2017 a milestone year for Brian, who performed with Roger McGough at Liverpool Playhouse on Saturday in an event marking the 50th anniversary of the book.

The Milestones poetry competition – first prize is £500 – will be open for submissions from March 21, with a closing deadline of 21 June. Poems of up to 40 lines should be on the theme of “milestones”.  You may interpret this theme as literally or figuratively as you wish. More details

Background: Julian Jordon reviews Roger McGough and Brian Patten in Liverpool