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Storage company Safe Store is running a poetry competition! Deadline is 15 January 2017. Write a poem in any style, describing what you like about winter. Three age ranges: 11 and under; 12-17; 18+. The winner in each category will receive a £30 e-gift voucher for stationery store Paperchase. UK residents only, I’m afraid. Full details are here.
The theme for this competition is ‘To a Friend’ – to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the publication of John Keats’ first poetry collection. Poems should not exceed 30 lines. Deadline for entries is 15 January 2017. Full details here: Keats-Shelley Prize
The High Sheriff’s Cheshire Prize for Literature 2016 is open for poetry this year – to poets with links to the English county of Cheshire. You are eligible if were born, have lived, or have studied in Cheshire. This includes the Wirral, Warrington and Halton. First prize is £2,000! Closing date is 1 September 2016. More information: http://chester.ac.uk/literatureprize
Poetry Together is a new competition for pairs of poets – one under 18, and one over 18. The competition is a collaboration between Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester Children’s Book Festival and The Red Cross, under the directorship of Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. Poetry Together aims to highlight the potential loneliness of the elderly, whilst emphasising the important work of The Red Cross. The closing date is 29 April 2016. The winning duo will win £250 each. More information here.
You have until 31 August 2016 to enter this writing competition, entitled ‘Poetry & Politics’. It’s free to enter, and the winner will receive £200. Poems by the winner and runners-up will be published in the Holland Park Press online magazine. One poem per entrant. Your poem must be original (hope that would go without saying!), unpublished, and up to 50 lines in length. Poems must be in English, but may be from poets anywhere in the world and of any nationality. Please refer to the website for full submissions info: http://hollandparkpress.co.uk/magazine_detail.php?magazine_id=407&language=English
Guernsey International Poetry Competition 2016 has Ian McMillan as the judge. The competition is free for poets aged 12 to 17. (There is a charge for adults to enter.) Deadline for entries: 15 January 2016. Winners will be contacted by 15 March 2016. Winning entries will be displayed on one of the 33 buses in Guernsey.
More information (the page is still showing last year’s winners): http://guernseyliteraryfestival.com/images/pom-competition2016.pdf (If this link doesn’t work, click on the download link on the page: http://guernseyliteraryfestival.com/index.php/2015-04-07-09-46-01/poems-on-the-move)
Deadline: Friday 11 December 2015.
Copied from the website (http://www.poetrybooks.co.uk/projects/15/):
The Poetry Book Society and emagazine invite students to step into the judges’ and poets’ shoes by writing a critical piece or a poem of their own in response to the work on the shortlist.
A chance for students to:
For the first time, this year, there are two choices of response:
EITHER
A 500 word critical piece on the 2 poems by your chosen poet, reflecting on what you particularly liked about them and why you think they should win.
OR
A poem of your own, ‘writing back’ to one of the poems you found particularly interesting. Your poem might take the same title, or use aspects of the form of the poem, or explore the same subject matter, or argue back with a view or angle that challenges or subverts ideas in the original.
How to apply
1. From Tuesday 3rd November 2015 – go to www.englishandmedia.co.uk/e-magazine, read the competition instructions and rules and follow the link to download the 20 poems.
2. Choose your poet and decide whether to write a critical piece or a poem as a response.
3. Get your entry in by Friday 11th December 2015.
Joint project between Nuffield Council on Bioethics and Apples and Snakes. http://nuffieldbioethics.org/project/naturalness/performance-poetry-collaboration/poetry-competition/
Deadline: Midnight on Sunday 1 November 2015. Open to poets living in the UK. The following is copied and pasted from the website:
We are looking for poems that explore, delve into and reveal the meaning of the words natural, unnatural, nature and similar words in the context of debates about science, technology and medicine.
What do people mean when they say genetic modification is wrong because it’s unnatural, or food that is natural is better for you?
We want to share these poems to engage others in the conversation, so we are looking for poets to perform their work at a public event in London on Monday 30th November 2015. The event will be filmed and shared online.
This is a free-to-enter competition, to highlight the plight of immigrants and refugees: http://www.uhrsn.org/respond-human-rights-poetry-award/ Entries must be in English. The deadline is 20 November 2015.
“Refugees and their message to Europe”
UHRSN is convinced that all people should have the right to a life lived with dignity free from fear, persecution and oppression. As widely reported, people in search of this life seeking asylum in European countries are in many instances denied just that – their fundamental rights. UHRSN also aims to utilize the power of poetry and the positive impact words can have to raise awareness for an issue that cannot be ignored. In this sense the poetry competition was established to provide refugees, migrants, students, sympathisers, etc. with an avenue
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