My Novel

My Novel

UK Poetry Competitions (currently 32)

Writers’ Forum Poetry Competition.  This monthly contest from the glossy magazine Writers’ Forum is for poems of up to 40 lines.
    Closing: Monthly.  Entries arriving too late for one month go forward to the next.
    Prizes: 1st - £100.  Runners-up - A Chambers Dictionary.
    Entry Fee: £5 each for the first three, £3 each thereafter.  Enclose sae for free critique.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Forward Press Animal Antics Competition.  This is for poems of up to 30 lines about your pet.  In addition to the poem, you are expected to send a photo (of the animal, not you, you vain fool).
    Closing: Unknown.
    Prize: £1,000.
    Entry Fee: None.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

WriteBuzz Writing Competitions.  WriteBuzz is a ‘literary hub’ for writers which runs regular writing competitions of various types.  Subscribers can enter free; others pay an entry fee.  Subscribers can also publish their work on the site.  Well worth a visit.
    Closing: Various dates.
    Prizes: Various.
    Entry Fee: Various. 
    Website: Click Here.

Envoi International Poetry Competition.  This one, from the well-known though small magazine Envoi, is for poems up to 40 lines.
    Closing: 20th February, June and October each year.
    Prize: £150, £100, £50.
    Entry Fee: £3.00 per poem or 5 for £12.00.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Whidbey Writing Competition.  This contest from Whidbey Writers Workshop in the USA is open worldwide and is for fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry and writing for children or young adults.  Up to 1,000 words.  I should point out that they have a rather strange - and if I may say so lazy - way of selecting a winner for this one.  The judge reads submissions until he or she finds one that ‘knocks his/her socks off’.  Never mind that the next one might have divested the judge of his/her pants and woolly vest, the remaining entries are tossed aside without so much as a glance.  However, you can submit you entry again if it isn’t selected (try to get it in early, as entries are read in order of submission).
    Closing: Monthly.
    Prize: $50.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Authearth Writing Competitions.  I know nothing about Authearth except that it’s a new online community for readers, writers and cartoonists.  There are six categories in the monthly contest: Audio, Book Review, Book Chapter, Column Post, Poetry.  You post your entry on the site so that readers can vote for it (or not vote for it, as the case may be).
    Closing: Monthly.
    Prize: £50 each month.  There is an annual prize of £500 for the best overall winner.  In addition the best book published on Authearth in 2008 will win £1,000.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Website: Click Here.

And now a word from our sponsor.  Hello.  I’m Michael Shenton, creator of this website and author of Stiff Competition, winner of the Peter Pook Humorous Novel Competition.  People who are looking for me through search engines can remember just about everything about the website save its name and, more distressingly for me, my name. They search for ‘Peter Pook author’, ’the man who wrote Peter Pook’, ‘that bloke who won the cars’ and all manner of other odd things, but never ‘Michael Shenton’. The sole purpose of this site is to get my name known in the hope that one day dozens of people will buy my current novel and any others I manage to get published.  So would you all kindly make a note of it.  Michael Shenton.  Thank you.

Cinnamon Press Poetry Collection Award.  Entries for ths one should comprise 10 poems of up to 40 lines.
    Closing: 30.6.09, 30.11.09.
    Prize: £100 and your collection published.
    Entry Fee: £16 per batch of ten (includes a free copy of the winners’ anthology).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Mere Literary Festival Poetry Competition .  This annual visitor to the list is for poems of up to 40 lines on any topic.  The senior judge will be Louis de Bernieres ... who wrote some sort of music book about mandolins.
    Closing: 7.7.09.
    Prizes: £200, £100, £50.  Runners-up - 3 x £15.
    Entry Fee: £3.50 for the first, £2.50 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry Competition.  This is for poems on any subject running to a maximum of 40 lines.
    Closing: 7.7.09.
    Prizes: £100, £60, £40.  The winning entries will be published.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2009 .  This is said to be Britain’s most prestigious poetry prize for writers between the ages of 11 and 17.  Are there any others?  Can’t say I’ve come across any.  But hey, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.  Let’s assume there are hundreds and this is the Big One.  There are two age categories: 11 to 14, and 15 to 17.  Poems can be any length and on any subject, and you can enter as many times as you wish.
    Closing: 31.7.09.
    Prizes: 11 to 14 category (x 5) - A short residency at your school by some obscure, sorry leading poet.  15 to 17 (x 15) - A week long residential course at one of the prestigious Arvon (writing) Centres (more studying - just what any school kid dreams of).  Fifteen of the prizewinners will have their entries published in the winners’ anthology.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dear Michael

Just to let you know I’ve been entering writing competitions for several years and this year came second in the 19^th Feile Filiochta International Poetry Competition. Hurrah! I probably wouldn’t have heard about it but for your site (and I still don’t know how to say it). I don’t even consider it one of my better poems – but it was free to enter. It just goes to show that literary competition judges have to be very subjective in the end, so it’s worth carrying on even when you don’t feel that confident. Anyway, I’m off to spend my winnings of 500 euros (that’s very nearly £375 in real money). Keep up the good work!
     Here’s a link to the poem that won the prize
     All the best - Clare Kirwan

McLellan Poetry Award 2009.   This one from Scotland, now in its fifth year, is open to all and is for poems of up to 40 lines.  Entries may be in English or Scots, although in the case of the latter it is unlikely anyone will be able to read them.
    Closing: 31.7.09.
    Prizes: £1,000, £350, £150.
    Entry Fee: £5 each or £15 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Presteigne & Norton Twinning Association Poetry Competition.  This poetry contest for children commemorates the twinning of Presteigne in Wales with Ligne in France, hence there is a French theme.  Entrants must be 16 or under.  Now, I know what you youngsters are thinking: Wouldn’t it be a cool gimmick if I got my computer to translate my entry into like French?  Sorry, but submissions must be in like English.  They must also not exceed 40 lines.  There will be an anthology of ‘favourite’ entries.
    Closing: 31.7.09.
    Prizes: The winner will receive 25% of the total entry pot (minimum £40, maximum £150), plus a copy of The Oxford Anthology of Great English Poetry, and a copy of the competition anthology.  There is an extra prize of £10 and a copy of the competition anthology for an entrant under 11.
    Entry Fee: £1 each, £3 for five.  There is a bulk offer for schools: £7 for fifteen poems.
    Comp Page : Click Here.

Leaf Books Poetry Competition.  Here’s another one from Leaf Books, this time for poems of up to 35 lines.
    Closing: 31.7.09.
    Prize: £200 plus a copy of the anthology and the complete collection of pocket-sized Leaf Books.
    Entry Fee: £3 each or £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Wells Festival International Poetry & Short Story Competition.  This annual contest from the catherdral city of Wells in Somerset is for poems of up to 40 lines and stories of between 1,800 and 2,000 words.  Andrew Motion will be judging the poetry shortlist, while Fiona Walker will judge the stories.
    Closing: 31.7.09.
    Prizes (in each category): £500, £200, £200.  Wyvern Prize (for a local writer) - £100.
    Entry Fee: £4.
    Website: Click Here.

Essex Poetry Festival 9th Open Poetry Competition.  This is another regular runner, as you will gather from the fact that it’s the 9th contest, but this year it offers something a little different - a fish competition, as indicated on the website by the line ‘Sole adjudicator: Jo Bell’.  I have it on good authority that Bert Winkle, a rival fishmonger, will be the haddock adjudicator.  Entries for the poetry section should be no more than 40 lines.
    Closing: 30.7.09.
    Prizes: £500, £200, £100.  Runners-up - £10 in book tokens.
    Entry Fee: £3 each or £10 for five.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dreamquest One Poetry and Writing Contest.  The requirement in this US contest is for poems of up to 30 lines and short stories of up to five pages, any style or theme.
    Closing: 31.7.09.
    Prizes: Stories - $500, $250, $100.   Poetry - $250, $125, $50.  Winners will be published on the website.
    Entry Fee: Stories - $10.  Poetry - $5.
    Website: Click Here.

Havant Literary Festival Poetry Competition.  The theme is ‘Water’ for this one.  The judge is  Anne Stewart.  There is a line limit of 40.
    Closing: 1.8.09.
    Prizes: £250, £100, £50.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Over The Edge New Writer of the Year Competition.  This one from Ireland is sponsored by the world-renowned Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop in Galway plus an anonymous donor believed by some to be the fishmonger down to road.  It is for fiction of up to 3,000 words and poems of up 100 lines (or three poems with 100 lines in total).
    Closing: 3.8.09.
    Prizes: Fiction - 300 euros.   Poem - 300 euros.  Overall Winner - Additional 400 euros.
    Entry Fee : 10 euros each, or 7.50 each for more than one entry.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Salopean Annual Poetry Contest.  This one comes courtesy of the Salopian Poetry Society and is for poems of up to 40 lines.
    Closing: 31.8.09.
    Prize: £200, £100, £50.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Cooldog Publications Short Story & Poetry Competitions.  This regular runner is for stories of up to 3,000 words and poems of up to 40 lines.  For the poetry you are required to ‘let the warm breezes blow your reflections through the heat and haze of summer ...’  But for the stories there’s none of that poncy nonsense - it’s all about how the summer fun turned sinister and scary.  See the website.
    Closing: 31.8.09.
    Prizes (in each category): £100, £50, £25.  Winners will be automatically entered for the annual Cooldog Prize which has a top award of £500.
    Entry Fee: £3.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Review Fuse Poetry Contest.  To enter this American contest you submit a poem of up to 50 lines on the theme of A Bull Fighter, then review the four other poems assigned to you.  Your own poem will in turn receive three peer reviews.  Yike.  Registration is required and is free.
    Closing: 31.8.09.
    Prize: $50.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

John Betjeman Young People’s Poetry Competition.  This is open to children aged 11 to 14 in the British Isles and the Republic of Ireland.  It is for poems about any aspect of their local surroundings.
    Closing: 31.8.09.
    Prize: £1,000.  This is far too much for any kid to handle so half of it goes to the English Department of their school.  If there is no English Department, it could perhaps be arranged for the money to go to the Pregancy Advice Department or the Drugs Rehabilitation Unit.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter (but only one entry per person).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Nottingham Open Poetry Competition.  This annual contest is for poems of up to 40 lines on any subject.  The judge will be Penelope Shuttle.
    Closing: 7.9.09.
    Prize: £300, £150, £75.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here .

Chroma International Queer Writing Competition.  Queer here is a reference to sexual orientation.  I wouldn’t be able to use the word in this context were it not for the fact that Chroma use it themselves, so I’m grateful to them for this small liberation in difficult and dangerous times.  Chroma is a magazine, incidentally.  The contest is for stories of up to 5,000 words and poems of up to 50 lines.
    Closing: 7.9.09.
    Prizes: £300, £150, £75.
    Entry Fee: £5.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Review Fuse Poetry Contest.  Up to 50 lines on any subject for this one from American website Review Fuse.  You upload your poem to the site and then grit your teeth while other writers pull it to pieces.  You in turn will be required to critique four other entries.  This will not influence the judging, but ... well, read the entry instructions.
    Closing: 25.9.09.
    Prize: $100.
    Entry Fee: None - free to enter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Basil Bunting Poetry Award 2009.  This contest was launched to celebrate the life of the late Basil Bunting, a leading British modernist poet from Northumberland.  It is open worldwide and is for poems of up  to 42 lines.
    Closing: 30.9.09.
    Prizes: £1,000, £500, £250.
    Entry Fee: £7 for the first, £3 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Tom Howard/John H Reid Poetry Contest.  This annual American contest is for poems in any style and on any subject.
    Closing: 30.9.09.
    Prizes: $2,000, $1,000, $500, $250.  There will also be five runners-up prizes ... sorry, High Distinction Awards of $200, and six also-ran prizes ... I mean, Most Highly Commended Awards of $50.   Next year there will be 2,500 Brave Try Awards, in all probability.
    Entry Fee (referred to by the promoters as a reading fee): $7 for every 25 lines.  Reading poetry pays handsomely, it seems, unlike writing it.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Dorothy Sargent Rosenburg Annual Poetry Competition.  This American contest, which is open all to writers under 40, is for lyric poems celebrating the spirit of life.  Don’t overdo the celebrations however, as brevity is mentioned as an asset.  If you submit the maximum of three poems, only one can be over 30 lines.
    Closing: 17.10.09.
    Prizes: Varying from $1,000 up to as much as $25,000.
    Entry Fee: None for entrants outside the United States, as it’s too much hassle dealing with international payments from bankrupt countries.  If you live in the U.S., bad luck - the fee is ten dollars (if you find yourself short of cash you could sign your house over to them and pay the rest in instalments).
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Ragged Raven Poetry Competition.  This annual contest is unusual in that it is for poems of any length on any subject.  At last, a chance to really expatiate your theme - and of course to send the judges to sleep.
    Closing: 31.10.09.
    Prizes: 1st - £300.   Runners-up (4) - £50.
    Entry Fee: £3 each, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Poetry Society National Poetry Competition.  In 1983, says the Poetry Society, Carol Ann Duffy won this contest and 26 years later she has become the Poet Lauriate.  So now you know how long it will take you to live it down if you win.  But there are compensations.  The top cash award is one of the best in the business, and the second prize isn’t bad either.  In addition, Carol Ann Duffy will not be one of the judges.  The thing that makes me uneasy about this contest year is that the entry form always asks for your age and ethnic background.  They say this is for monitoring purposes only, but I still don’t think it belongs on a competition entry form.  However, I have no complaints about the line limit which is 40.
    Closing: 31.10.09.
    Prizes: £5,000, £1,000, £500.  Winners will be published on the website and in the magazines Aesthetica and Poetry Review.
    Entry Fee: £5 for the first, £3 thereafter.
    Comp Page : Click Here.

The Plough Prize.  Here’s a regular visitor I’m always pleased to see because it gives me the opportunity to use my little joke about the prize, which I know many people look forward to.  First though ... the contest has two categories: Open Poem and Short Poem, the former allowing up to 40 lines, the latter up to 10.  The judge this year will be someone called Alison Brackenbury.
    Closing: 30.11.09.
    Prizes (in each category): Ploughs.  Or you can take the money - £500, £200, £100.  There is also a prize of £100 in an additional category for poems suitable for children.
    Entry Fee: £4 each, £14 for four and £3.50 thereafter.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

Iota International Poetry Competition.  This one from poetry and fiction magazine Iota is for poems of up to 80 lines on any subject and in any style.  The judge will be Tim Turnbull.
    Closing: 30.11.09.
    Prizes: £2,000, £1,000, £500, 10 x £50.  The winners will be published in Iota.
    Entry Fee: £4 each, £7 for two, £9 for three, £10 for four.
    Comp Page: Click Here.

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Notes: Unless otherwise stated in the rules, poetry should be single-spaced.  It is sometimes the case that your name shouldn’t appear on the manuscript. Check the rules.  If you put your name on there after being told not to, you’re out.  Don’t use coloured paper or fancy fonts.  The colour and pizzazz to make you stand out from the crowd should be in the words.  Plain white A4 80gsm paper is the stuff to use, with plain black typing or print.  My preferred font for poetry manuscripts printed on an inkjet or laser printer is Gill Sans in 12 point (13 if I’m not pressed for space).  This gives a clear, dark print that’s easy to read.  Although publishers and agents sometimes demand the feeble Courier font, which comes out on my printers like something produced by a typewriter with an antique ribbon, I’ve never never known competition organisers to express any preference.  But as always, check the rules.  Finally, write on one side of the sheet only - unless asked to put your address, etc, on the back.
 

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Disclaimer

For other types of writing competitions, see the full list of literary contests on my Writing Comps page.