OPEN TO POEMS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD

We are pleased to announce that our annual Open Poetry Competition is now open for your entries. It is judged this year by Richard Skinner, a well-known writer and editor of poetry, fiction, life writing, essays and non-fiction. Richard has published three novels, four books of non-fiction and four books of poetry. His most recent book of poems is Invisible Sun (Smokestack Books, 2021).

The deadline for entries is 31st January, 2022.

As in previous years, we offer seven prizes:

1st Prize: £1000

2nd Prize: £300

3rd Prize: £100

4th Prize: 4 x £50

Entry fee: £5 per poem; or, for 3 or more poems, £4 each. (PLEASE PAY USING THE PAYPAL BUTTONS BELOW)

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ENTRY IS BY EMAIL ONLY

Deadline for receipt of entries: 31st January, 2022.

Any number of poems can be submitted, on payment of £5 per poem, or £4 each for three poems or more.
The competition is for anyone aged 16 and over, from anywhere in the world.
Poems must be in English, your original work, on any subject, in any style, no longer than 40 lines.
Poems should have neither been published (including self-published) nor accepted for publication at the time of entry. Nor should they be entered into any other competition for which the results will be announced after our closing date, 31st January 2022.

Please send your poems by email to [email protected] in a single Word or pdf attachment, formatted A4, and with each poem starting on a new page, after paying the entry fee using PayPal on our website.

Please ensure the poem is formatted as you wish it to be read. If the form is complex, it is advisable to use a pdf format.

All poems are judged anonymously, so should not bear your name, nor any other form of identification.

In your covering email, please write ‘COMPETITION ENTRY’ as the subject header, and give:
Your name and postal address
List of poems submitted
The date you made your Paypal payment (and the name under which it was made, if not your own).

We will acknowledge receipt of entries. However, only prize winners will be contacted with news of the judge’s decision, in mid-April. The results will be announced on our website, April 20th 2022.

All entries are read by the judge, whose decision is final. There can be no correspondence concerning the result. No person may win more than one prize.

Prize-winning poems will be posted on our website, and also included in our annual Folio publication. Prize winners will also be invited to read their poem at our monthly meeting on April 19th, 2022.

Closing Date: 31st January, 2022.