I’m only listing free-to-enter competitions as, if you are just starting out, you can otherwise spend a fortune. If you have anything poetry-related to share (free-to-submit listings only), please get in touch via email: rosiesandler@talktalk.net – thank you!
Please note: publication on this site does not mean publications/competition organisers have been vetted – please do your own checks before submitting.
Happy writing!
Rosie
Empty House Press
A new journal, Empty House Press encourages: “…broad interpretations of what the idea or image of an empty house might evoke.” Submit up to 3 poems in a single document. Full details here.
Ninth Letter
Published twice-yearly as a print journal by the University of Illinois, Ninth Letter is accepting poetry submissions until 28 February 2020. (It looks like there may be an annual submissions window of 1 Sept to 28 Feb.) Read full guidelines.
Shenandoah
A web magazine that publishes biannually, Shenandoah‘s editor is supported by students at Washington and Lee University’s English Department. From the website: “We will accept POETRY submissions from November 15 to December 15. We will also accept submissions in the same window for the GRAYBEAL-GOWEN PRIZE FOR VIRGINIA POETS, which was established to honor the memory of Washington and Lee graduate and lover of poetry, Howerton Gowen. Poets living in or born in Virginia, as well as those with long-term residency in the past, are eligible.” The editors stop accepting submissions once they receive 800, so submit sooner, rather than later. Full info here.
Bayou Magazine
Literary journal of the University of New Orleans, published biannually. Submit up to 5 poems in a single file via Submittable. The editors review submissions from 1 September to 1 May each year. Other forms of creative writing are also accepted. Read the full guidelines before submitting.
East Riding Festival of Words
With a theme of ‘My Mind, My Thoughts’, the 2019 East Riding Festival of Words poetry competition is free for school-age poets. (Otherwise, there’s a fee of £3 per poem.) Enter by 30 November 2019. Full info here.
Anglica Poetry Competition
Copied from website: “The poem should be metrical, and should be no longer than 100 lines, though extracts from longer work are permitted. There are no formal or thematic restraints, and so long as it is written in a discernible metre (or several!), we encourage you to follow your fancy, whether that lead you to the outlandish, the passionate, or even the dull.” There are links to the poetry of Milton and Shakespeare, plus lessons on poetry technique. Deadline is 1 December 2020. https://anglica.co.uk/poetry-competition/
Award for Scottish writers
The John Byrne Award is an online monthly and annual award. Entrants must be over 16 and living or studying in Scotland. See full details.
Eric Gregory Trust Fund
Copied from website:
- Applicants must be under the age of 30 on 31 March 2020
- Applicants must be a British National, or resident in Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the Commonwealth for three years prior to the date of submission for the award
- Submissions must be in English
- Submissions may be a published or unpublished volume of poetry, drama-poems or belles-lettres
- Submissions must be no more than 30 poems
- Deadline is 31 October 2019.
- Enter here.
African Poetry Prize
From Brunel University, London: “The Prize is open to poets who were born in Africa, or who are nationals of an African country, or whose parents are African. It is for ten poems exactly in order to encourage serious poets. These poems may, however, have already been published. Only poets who have not yet had a full-length poetry book published are eligible. Poets who have self-published poetry books or had chapbooks and pamphlets published are allowed to submit for this prize.” More info is here, but there is more than one set of entry dates on the web page, referring to previous years! I will add correct dates to this post, once I hear back from the university.
Indigomania
Truth Serum Press is looking for poems that somehow encompass ‘blue’ for a new anthology, inspired by the Impressionists’ love of the colour. Copied from the website: “All poems must somehow encompass / include / mention blue … or its variants.” Submit no more than 5 poems by 30 November 2019. More information here.
