New Writers Sonnet Competition 2026

• Deadline: 23.59 (UK time) on Saturday 21st March 2026 (World Poetry Day)
• Entry Fee: FREE to newsletter subscribers (which is also free)
• Prizes: 1st Place: £50 plus one free entry to the New Writers 100-Word Writing Competition 2026
• Publication: On the NewWriters.org.uk website and in the next New Writers Anthology
• Word Limit: 14 lines (excluding title)
• Category: Poetry Competitions
• How to Enter: Sign up to our free monthly newsletter (if you haven’t already), and submit your sonnet through the entry form.

To celebrate World Poetry Day on 21st March, we welcome entries to the New Writers Sonnet Competition 2026.

The competition is FREE to enter, but entrants must sign up to our NewWriters.org.uk Newsletter, which is also free (use THIS LINK to sign up if you haven’t already).

Our monthly newsletter includes details of upcoming writing competitions (including our current 100-Word Writing Competition with a £1,000 top prize!), along with tips and prompts and other news or offers we think might interest writers. We don’t share subscribers’ information with anyone else.

Your sonnet of 14 lines doesn’t have to strictly adhere to traditional rhyming schemes or stanza lengths, but it should attempt to fit at least some of the sonnet ‘rules’.

For more information of the possible structures a sonnet could take, check out the Poetry Foundation website and this useful introduction from BBC Bitesize.

We’re happy to receive traditional Petrarchan sonnets or English (aka Shakespearean) sonnets, Equally, if you want to experiment with the form, that’s fine too (as long as you stick to 14 lines, please).

Please give your entry a title that isn’t simply ‘Sonnet’, and please don’t include your name on the entry. One entry per person.

Entry to this free competition assumes you accept the following terms and conditions:

1. Entries must be the sole work of the entrant and no AI or similar software may have been used to write it. One entry per person.
2. Entries must be unpublished, either in print or online (including social media).
3. Entrants must be aged 18 years or older at the time of entry.
4. Entries must be 14 lines and identifiable as a sonnet in some way.
5. The winner of competition will be paid a £50 prize and will receive one free entry to the New Writers 100-Word Writing Competition 2026 (worth £10, deadline 30th April 2026).
6. Results of the competition will be published in the NewWriters.org.uk newsletter no later than 23rd April 2026 (Shakespeare’s birthday). The winning entry will be published on the website soon after and in the next New Writers Anthology.

New Writers Sonnet Competition 2026 – Entry Form

Your email *

First Name(s) *

Last Name *

Pen Name or Alias (if applicable)The name you would like us to use if you make the short or longlist (or you win!)

Title of Entry *

Upload your entry *

Choose FileNo file chosenDelete uploaded file

Tick to confirm you have read and agree to the competition terms and conditions and that you have signed up to the free New Writers Newsletter.

SUBMIT

Please do not fill in this field.