Discover your Potential...
In 1951 a photographer took a photo of an undiscovered chorus girl...she became known to the world as Audrey Hepburn.
The Poetry Society's
National Poetry Competition 2008
is now open for entries!
Enter The National Poetry Competition 2008 here
(photo credit: Angus McBean photograph © Harvard Theatre Collection, used by permission)
This is the perfect opportunity to have your poems read by three of today's leading poets, stand the chance to win £5000, and see your name added to the impressive list of past winners, including Michael Hulse, Carol Ann Duffy, Jo Shapcott, Ruth Padel, Ian Duhig and our current winner Sinéad Morrissey.
Now in its 31st year, the Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition is one of the leading poetry prizes. It attracts entries from Nantwich to Nairobi and offers to anyone who enters the opportunity to discover their own potential as a writer. Whether you are an established poet or a budding writer, winning often provides that essential spur to take your writing further.
We also know through our Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award that potential can be discovered early. So with this in mind we have now lowered the entrance age for the National Poetry Competition to 17 years and over!
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The Poetry Society is delighted to announce that Aesthetica Magazine, The Cultural Arts Magazine, are the new media partners of the National Poetry Competition.
"Aesthetica Magazine is proud to be supporting the National Poetry Competition in 2008. As part of the support, all three winners and commendations will receive a free annual subscription to Aesthetica Magazine".
Prizes
First prize £5,000
Second prize £1,000
Third prize £500
All three winners will receive a free annual subscription to Aesthetica Magazine.
plus ten commendations of £50
Winners also get the opportunity to read their winning poem alongside the judges at the 2009 at Ledbury Poetry Festival. For more information on the festival, described by Poet Laureate Andrew Motion as "the best in the country", call 0845 458 1743 or visit www.poetry-festival.com
The Poetry Society thanks long-time supporter Felix Dennis for sponsorship support of the National Poetry Competition, which helps us put on a prize-giving event at which the judges publicly announce our prize-winners and commended poets.
Judges:
Frieda Hughes
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Frieda Hughes’ first book of poetry, Wooroloo, received a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. She has also published Stonepicker and Waxworks. Her most recent collection, Forty-Five, was published in the US in 2006. Her poems have been published in The New Yorker, Agenda, The Paris Review, Thumbscrew, Tatler, The Spectator and The London Magazine among others. A fifth collection of poetry, The Book of Mirrors, will be published by Harper Collins as a double book with Stonepicker in the US in autumn 2008.
Jack Mapanje
Jack Mapanje is a poet, linguist, editor and human rights activist. In 2007, Mapanje was nominated for the Forward Prize for Best Collection for his latest and highly acclaimed collection, Beasts of Nalunga (2007). This discusses everything from his daughter’s wedding, to the winter of discontent, the trials and tribulations facing GNER passengers, to his imprisonment under the orders of Malawian dictator Hastings Kamuzu Banda. Mapanje, the former head of English at the University of Malawi, is now a senior lecturer in English at Newcastle University.
Brian Patten
Brian Patten’s work first appeared in the best selling Penguin collection The Mersey Sound in 1967 (with Roger McGough and the late Adrian Henri) which has now been reissued as a Penguin Modern Classic. Among his individual collections are Little Johnny’s Confession; Vanishing Trick; Grave Gossip and Armada. He is the editor of The Puffin Book of Modern Children’’ Verse and his poetry for children includes the highly popular collections Gargling With Jelly; Thawing Frozen Frogs, and Juggling With Gerbils. His most recent collections are Selected Poems (Penguin) and Collected Love Poems (Harper Perennial). His many awards include The Cholmondeley Award for Poetry, and a special award from the Mystery Writers of America Guild for his Children’s novel, Mr Moon’s Last Case. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In 2002 he was honoured with the Freedom of the City of Liverpool.
Entry Fee:
£5.00 for first poem then £3.00 for each subsequent entry. Members of the Poetry Society can enter a second poem free of charge.
Closing date:
31 October 2008
Please click here to download an entry form and enter online. Alternatively, if you would like an entry form to be posted to you, please send an A5 SAE to Competition Organiser (website), 22 Betterton Street, London, WC2H 9BX.
- Rules of the Competition
- How to enter
- Colette Bryce's poem 'The Full Indian Rope Trick' wins online poll to find favourite poem of the last 30 years of competition.
- Sinead Morrissey wins the National Poetry Competition 2007
- Press Release about the winners 2007
If you are interested in literature the following will be of further interest to you:
A winning Tip
Judges past and present all agree: to give yourself a better chance to write a winning poem, you need to read other poets. A good place to find out all that's happening on the contemporary poetry scene is the Poetry Review
You can also keep up to date with new poetry publications listed on our website.
Sponsorship
Interested in sponsoring the National Poetry Competition? Click here.
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