UK Poetry Competitions

2026

August 2026

• 15 Aug Bournemouth Writing Prize. Open. Up to 3 poems. Max 30 lines. £8 until 31 May, then £10.
• 20 Aug Verve Poem of the month competition. Monthly competition (**Open from 1 Aug**) Optional theme: Get up and go (no waiting around). £3 (£6 for 3 poems).
• 22 Aug Clevedon Lit Fest Poetry Award. Open. (Sans 12pt. font, 1.5 line spacing). Max 40 lines. £6.
• 30 Aug Poetry Society Stanza Competition (For Poetry Society Stanza members only). Theme: Wonder. Max 40 lines. Two free entries for stanza members.
• 30 Aug – 6 Sep The Booby Prize for Poetry. (See also here). Write up to 40 lines in 7 days. The competition will run from 23:00 hrs UK time on a Sunday night for 7 days, to 23:00 hrs UK Time the following Sunday night. All entrants will receive an email at the competition start time. There will be a selection of 3 prompts to choose from in three categories. £10 entry.
• 31 Aug Enfield Poets Poetry Competition. Open. Max 50 lines. £4 (£10 for 3).
• 31 Aug Superlative Lit Journal annual competition Theme: Growth. No line length restrictions found. £15 entry. (This is the Earlybird price – it might be even more if submitting later!)
• 31 Aug Oxford Poetry Prize 2026 Open. Max 60 lines. £10 (Some free entries available to low-income poets on a first come-first served basis)
• 31 Aug Hastings Book Festival Competition. Open. Max 40 lines. There is an additional prize for writers living in East or West Sussex. £9 (£17 for 2, £24 for 3).
• 31 Aug Briefly Write Competition Max 10 lines. Free.

September 2026

• 6 Sep Cheltenham Poetry Festival international poetry competition Open. Max 50 lines. £4 (£10 for 3, £15 for 5).
• 8 Sep Aesthetica Creative Writing Award (poetry and fiction). Open, but particularly interested in works that ‘reflect upon our ever changing world’. Max 40 lines. £12.
• 13 Sep Calibre Audio Inclusive Voices Competition Theme: poems/stories that are ’empathy-led’. Max 550 words. Free.
• 14 Sep Wild Muse Nature Writing Prize Theme: ‘Nature’s wisdom and healing’. 2000 words max. (Submissions can be poems, personal narratives, articles, magical stories, philosophical reflections or essays). £10.36 per submission.
• 20 Sep Verve Poem of the month competition. Monthly competition (**Open from 1 Sep**) Optional theme: The Verve (The band) £3 (£6 for 3 poems).
• 28 Sep Poetry Kit Ekphrastic Poetry Competition. Any theme (broadly based on artworks). Any length. £3.50 (3 for £8, 5 for £10)
• 30 Sep Moth Nature Writing Prize. Theme: the prize is awarded to works which best ‘combine exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writers’ relationship with the natural world’. Single poem (any length – not a collection) or piece of prose up to 4000 words. 16 Euros.
• 30 Sep Big Dithering Chaps Chapbook competition. Submit a 10-page sample of poems “along with a 200-word treatment explaining the vision” behind the collection, (which should be 30-60 pages in total). £10.
• 30 Sep The Canterbury Christ Church University Poetry Prize (Save As). Theme: ‘Lines of communication’ . Max 60 lines. £4 (3 for £10). [Short story competition also available on the same theme. Max 3500 words, £5 per story, 3 for £12].
• 30 Sep Hammond House International Literary Prize. (Includes poetry, short story, script and song writing).Theme: ‘Destiny’. Max 40 lines. £10 (£5 for gold members). Feedback option available.
• 30 Sep Gloucestershire Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition. Open. Max 40 lines. £4 (4 for £13).
• 30 Sept Caring at Christmas Poetry Competition. (UK submissions only). Theme: “The joy of caring at Christmas” or “The challenges of caring at Christmas” . Max 2 poems. Max 30 lines each. Free.

October 2026

• 1 Oct Poetry London Pamphlet Prize. Max 24 pages. £20 per pamphlet (£10 for current subscribers).
• 4 Oct The New Cockney Poets and Cable Street competition. Themes (2): (1) Modern Cockney identities & Cockney Diaspora and (2) Unity & Comradeship of East End Communities (in celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street). Max 40 lines. Free (?)
• 10 Oct Worlds into Words Poetry Competition. Theme: ‘worlds into words’. Max 40 lines. £5 (£1 for under 18s; free for those with lived experience as a refugee)
• 19 Oct Waltham Forest Poetry Competition. Theme: music. Max 40 lines. Max 6 poems. There are also categories for poets living or studying in the Waltham Forest area and “funniest poem”, and a children’s category. £3 for adult entries (subsequent poems in same submission £1).
• 30 Oct The Happiful Poetry Prize 2027. Theme: mental health and wellbeing. Max 25 lines. Entry includes an online poetry workshop. Free.
• 31 Oct Bedford Writing Competition Open. Max 40 lines. More info here. Additional prize for Bedford residents. £8.50 (3 for £17)
• 31 Oct Poetry Society National Poetry Competition. Open. Max 40 lines. £9 (£6 for subsequent poems. Poetry Society members get a free second submission with their first submission).
• 31 Oct Wildfire/Frosted Fire Seventh International Single Poem Competition. Prizes for audio and text submissions. Theme: ‘Free speech’. Max 50 lines. Until 31 Aug fee is £4 (5 for £16). 1 Sep onwards fee is £5 (5 for £20).
• 31 Oct Edward Thomas Fellowship Poetry Competition 2027. Max 40 lines. Max 3 poems. £5.

November 2026

• 29 Nov – 6 Dec The Booby Prize for Poetry (See also here). Write up to 40 lines in 7 days. The competition will run from 23:00 hrs UK time on a Sunday night for 7 days, to 23:00 hrs UK Time the following Sunday night. All entrants will receive an email at the competition start time. There will be a selection of 3 prompts to choose from in three categories. £10 entry.
• 30 Nov Wildfire Words 2026 Audio book International Competition. For collections of 6+ poems. Max 300 words/60 lines including stanza breaks per poem. At least 2 must be entered as audio recordings. £9 [per collection until 31 Oct. £12 per collection from 1 Nov.

December 2026

20 Dec Verve Poem of the month competition. Monthly competition (**Open from 1 Dec**) Optional theme: Party Tricks (Show us). £3 (£6 for 3)

2027

January 2027

• 20 Jan Verve Poem of the month competition. Monthly competition (**Open from 1 Jan**) Optional theme: Verba (Words that do something). £3 (£6 for 3)

February 2027

• 20 Feb Verve Poem of the month competition. Monthly competition (**Open from 1 Feb **) Optional theme: Verve (Try and define it). £3 (£6 for 3).

March 2027

• 20 Mar Verve Poem of the month competition. Monthly competition (**Open from 1 Mar**) Optional theme: No Verve (When nothing catches). £3 (£6 for 3).

April 2027

May 2027