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Poetry Competition 2016


Imtiaz Dharker is the judge for the 2016 Ledbury Poetry Competition

Imtiaz Dharker, this year’s poetry competition judge, is a poet, artist and documentary film – maker. Awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2014, recipient of the Cholmondeley Award and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, her most recent collection is Over the Moon (Bloodaxe). With Poetry Live! she reads to over 25,000 students a year.

Adult Prizes

First Prize: £1000 cash and a course at Ty Newydd, The National Writers’ Centre for Wales. www.tynewydd.orgSecond Prize: £500
Third Prize: £250

Young Person’s prizes

First Prize: £100 cash
Second Prize: £50
Third Prize: £25

Children’s Prizes

First Prize: £25 book token
Second Prize: £15 book token
Third Prize: £10 book token

All winners get to read at the Ledbury Poetry Festival 2017 – if abroad there is the possibility of Skyping at the winners’ event.

You can now enter the Ledbury Poetry Competition. Do this on-line using our on-line entry form or print a form and send this to us, with your poems by post, but read the rules first.

Rules
Poems must be received on or before Thursday 7 July 2016 at 5pm.
All poems must be the original work of the entrant and should not have been previously published, accepted for publication by a magazine, nor entered in other competitions.
The length of each poem must not exceed 40 lines.
Each individual poem, regardless of length, must be typed on one sheet of plain A4 paper (except Children’s category, which can be handwritten). Please submit two copies of each poem – unless you enter on-line.
The competitor’s name MUST NOT appear on the poem.
All poems must be accompanied by a fully completed entry form.
Please keep a copy of your poem, as manuscripts cannot be returned.
Copyright remains with the author, but Ledbury Poetry Festival reserves the right to have entries performed at the Festival, on radio, TV, or stage, published on the internet, in an anthology or used for publicity purposes at any stage in the future.
No acknowledgement of entry will be sent unless the competitor sends an SAE marked ‘Acknowledgement’.
Competitors wishing to be informed of the results should enclose an SAE marked ‘Results’.
The decision of the judge is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
The Festival reserves the right to withhold prizes if such an action is justified.
Entries not complying with competition rules will be disqualified.
The winner of the adult first prize will be expected to provide for his/her own transport arrangements in order to attend the Ty Newydd course in North Wales, regardless of whether he/she is a UK resident or not.
The winner may select from any of the courses available at Ty Newydd. However the Festival cannot accept responsibility for re-arrangements or circumstances beyond its control.
THE FESTIVAL CANNOT PAY TRAVEL COSTS TO THE WINNERS’ EVENT.

You can enter on-line
Enter on-line

or download the appropriate form below and post it back to us.
Adult (18+) Entry Form
Young Person (12-17) Entry Form
Children's (under 12) Entry Form

The Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition 2015 – Winners!

After much deliberation in our biggest year yet for entries (over 1500) judge Deryn Rees-Jones has announced the poetry competition winners. Congratulations to you all. It was a very strong field this year, and Deryn has also made several commendations.

Adults:

First Prize: Forfeit by Jane Satterfield

Jane wins £1000 cash and a course at Ty Newydd, The National Writers’ Centre for Wales. www.tynewydd.org

Second Prize: Break by Rosie Shepperd

£500

Third Prize: Five Throats by Nisha Bhakoo

£250


2015 poetry competition winner Jane Satterfield, pictured in New York City

Adults Commended:

The girl who never was even conceived by Jillian Fenn

Gloria by Polly Atkin

A Year In by Maeve Henry

Obsidians in Moon by Jackie Juno

Young People: 12 – 17

First Prize: £100 to Shaliyah Grant for The Disappearance

Second Prize: £50 to Daniella Cugini for aubade

Third Prize : £25 to Elin Gray for Paper Cats

Children: (11 and under)

First Prize: £25 book token to Ines Rossi for Deteriorates

Second Prize: £15 book token to Kitty Prince for The Cobweb

Third Prize: £10 book token to Victor Nogueira for The Magic Box

Children Commended:

Our House by Faye Colhoun, The Giant by Jacob Littlewood, Snap! by George Martin, April morning, Foxgloves and Storm all by Roo Prince, Ante-Meridiem Mourning and My Artist’s Name by Ava Whitney, Senses by Sasha Robinson

About Deryn Rees-Jones

Deryn Rees-Jones’s most recent books are ‘And You, Helen’ with Charlotte Hodes (Seren, 2014) and ‘Burying the Wren’ (2012) shortlisted for the Roland Mathias and T.S. Eliot Prize. She teaches literature at the University of Liverpool and is the new editor of Pavilion Poetry.

All winners have been invited to read at the Ledbury Poetry Festival in 2016. Some winners are non-UK residents and may appear by skype.

Poetry Competition Winning Poems – all categories

Poetry Competition Commended Poems Adults and Children