THE 2018 COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all those who entered. Results will be announced in APRIL.
The deadline for the 2018 competition is 31st January 2018. The Judge is poet Helen Ivory and she will read all the submissions.
First prize: £1,000
Second prize: £300
Third prize: £100
Plus 4 x £50
How to enter –
A. By post
1. The competition is open to anyone aged 16 and over.
2. Poems should be in English, unpublished, not accepted for publication, and must be your original work.
3. Poems may be on any subject and in any form or style. They must be typed and not longer than 40 lines.
4. Each poem must be typed on a separate sheet of A4 paper. All poems are judged anonymously and should not bear your name, nor any other form of identification. On a separate sheet of A4 paper you should give a: your name and address, b: a list of poems submitted, and c: where you heard about the competition.
5. Please enclose a stamped addressed envelope for receipt of entry if required (marked RECEIPT) or for results sheet (marked RESULTS – published mid-2018)
6. Any number of poems may be submitted on payment of the appropriate fee: £5 per poem, or for 3 or more poems £4 each. Cheques and postal orders should be made payable to KENT & SUSSEX POETRY SOCIETY. No stamps foreign currency accepted. Pounds Sterling or Sterling Drafts will be accepted.
7. The winners will be notified by post. No person may win more than one prize. The prize-winning poems will be published in the Society’s Poetry Folio in September 2018 (available £3 from the address below). Poems cannot be returned to the contestants. The decision of the adjudicator will be final, and there can be no correspondence concerning the result.
8. Entries should be addressed to: The Competition Organiser, 26 Courtlands, Teston, Maidstone, Kent, ME18 5AS. (Please note: A4 envelopes require ‘Large Letter’ postage)
Entry form not required. This leaflet may be photocopied. Or download details from our website.
B. On line
Rules as above but pay by Paypal (links below) and then e-mail your poems to us as an attachment, giving the Paypal receipt reference. Please submit your poems as a single Word file (but with each poem on a separate page), and submit (in the same e mail) a separate Word file giving your contact details and the list of titles.
Our e-mail is kentandsussexpoetry@gmail.com
No receipts will be sent. Winners will be contacted by post. Results will be published on our website mid-March.
Single Poem – £5
2 Poems – £10
3 Poems – £12
4 Poems – £16
5 Poems – £20
I can’t help you with that one, Michael. Perhaps Paypal can.
Have a look at the results on the website and this may indicate how wide the subject matter can be. The high standard expected is also clear from these poems – it is the quality of the writing that is judged. The judge does read all the poems submitted – over 1400 this year. Catherine Smith’s adjudication report will be published shortly and will indicate her reasons for choosing the prizewinners.
This is the situation at present.
It would be helpful, but is not a condition of entry.
You can send an sae with your entry for a receipt and for the results. Please look at the leaflet for details.
Hi, by ‘unpublished’ do you in print only or do you include social media and online? Does this include a poet’s personal webpage etc?
I look forward to hearing from you
Ambre
Publication does include social media and online, including a personal webpage.
Thank you for your reply and clarification. I will know for again 🙂
To whom it may concern at Kentandsussexpoetry, Unfortunately I’ve only just received your email today 7/2/2018 telling me about this year’s open poetry competition. I know the deadline ended on the 31 Jan, would have liked to enter, but unfortunately it’s too late. Is there the possibility that you will be running any competitions later in the year? Thank you for all your time.
Kind regards,
Miss Maria Bertolone
Only one competition a year I’m afraid!
Next competition is same time next year – closing date Jan 31 2019.
Thank you for your reply, I look forward to entering the 2019 31st Jan Poetry contest.
Is it too late to enter this. Only just discovered your site.
Too late for this year. The next competition will have a closing date of Jan 2019. Details will be published on the appropriate website page.
Too late! Another competition same time next year.
I hope it’s OK to ask for an update. Can we assume that the winners have been told now? I’m thinking if the website is due to publish the results, the letters must have been sent by now? Thanks!
The prizewinners will be announced at our meeting on 17 April, and published on the website after that.
Just to be clear, I’m not asking to know who the winners are! Just if you could confirm here that they have been informed? Magazine deadlines are approaching fast, and the poems we entrants have sent to you are still officially ‘submitted’ and therefore can’t be submitted to a magazine, until we know winners have been informed. Many thanks.
The winners have been informed.
Having never entered a poetry competition before and sending in the first poem I have ever written. Can I use my poem which has not succeeded somewhere else, another competition maybe. I would like to continue
writing as I so enjoy it.
Yes you can re-enter, as long as it has not been published or won a prize in another competition.
Hi
Do we know when 2018 poetry comp results will be published. I am keen to see the winners.
The poems are available to read on our website.