Menu

Poetry Competitions

  1. Writing Competitions
  2. Poetry Competitions

Writing Competitions Search and Views Navigation

Writing Competition Views Navigation

Today

Red Shed Poetry Competition 2025

Deadline: 28th March 2025

  • Entry Fee: £3.50 for the first entry, £2 extra for each additional entry
  • Prizes: 1st Place: £100, 2nd: £50, 3rd: £20. Wakefield postcode prize: £25
  • Word Limit: 40 lines maximum
  • Category: Marion Oxley
  • Sole adjudicator: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: currockpress.com/theredshedpoetrycomp

Caterpillar Poetry Prize 2025

Deadline: 31st March 2025

  • Entry Fee: €15
  • Prizes: 1st prize €1,000 plus a week at Circle of Misse in France; 2nd prize €500; 3rd prize €250
  • Word Limit: No line limit
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Judge: Kate Wakeling
  • Competition Website:  thecaterpillarmagazine.com

Letter Review Prize for Poetry

Deadline: 31st March 2025

  • Entry Fee:  $15
  • Prizes: Two to four winners share in the $1,000 USD total prize pool. 10-20 writers Shortlisted. All entries considered for publication, and for submission to the Pushcart.
  • Word Limit: Up to 70 lines
  • Category: Poetry competition
  • Competition Website: letterreview.com/information/

Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition 2025

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 30th April 2025

  • Entry Fee: £5.00 per poem
  • Prizes: First prize £800, Second prize £400, Third prize £200, Sonnet prize £200
  • Word Limit: 50 lines maximum
  • Judge: Hannah Copley, TS Eliot Prize shortlisted poet, editor of Stand literary magazine, creative writing lecturer at Westminster University
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: warepoets.org/competition-2025

Channel Islands LGBTQ+ Writing Competition 2025

Deadline: Wednesday 30 April 2025

  • Entry Fee: Free
  • Eligibility: Entrants must be from the Channel Islands. You do not have to be LGBTQ+ yourself to participate.
  • Theme: LGBTQ+ theme, fiction or non-fiction and in any written literary form
  • Prizes: Winner of each category will receive a £100 voucher
  • Word Limit: 1,000 words
  • Age Categories: 'Under 18s' or '18 and Over'
  • Competition Website:  CLICK HERE for Entry Details

Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year Competition 2025

Deadline: 2 June 2025

  • Entry Fee: £5 for each poem
  • Prizes: Winner: £300 (and named Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year(; Second place: £150; Third place: £75
  • Word Limit: 60 lines maximum (excluding title and line breaks)
  • Judges: Luigi Marchini (Chair, SaveAs Writers Group), Kerry Rawlinson (Joint Winner, Poet of the Year 2024) and Gary Michael Studley (Joint Winner, Poet of the Year 2024)
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: canterburyfestival.co.uk/poet-of-the-year-competition-2025

Anthology Poetry Competition 2025

Deadline: Midnight (UK time) on 31st October 2025

  • Entry Fee: Early Bird: €15 – until 31st March 2025; Standard fee: €18 – 1st April to 31st October 2025
  • Prizes: 1st Place: €1,000, plus publication in Anthology magazine; 2nd Place: €250; 3rd Place: €150
  • Word Limit: 40 lines maximum
  • Category: Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: anthology-magazine.com/awards/poetry-competition

The Bedford Competition – Short Story and Poetry Awards

Deadline: 31 October 2025

  • Entry Fee: £8.50 (or three for £17). Students: £6 (or three for £12)
  • Prizes: 1st: £1,500, 2nd: £300, 3rd: £200
  • Word Limit: Stories up to 3,000 words; poems up to 40 lines
  • Eligibility: Entrants must be aged 17 or older, but from anywhere in the world
  • Category: Short Story Competitions, Poetry Competitions
  • Competition Website: bedfordwritingcompetition.co.uk

If you find this page and our site useful, please consider making a small donation through our Ko-fi page. This will help us offer regular free-to-enter competitions and free entries to our paid-entry competitions for those on low incomes.

Please also sign up to our free monthly newsletter. Subscribers gain exclusive access to our free-to-enter competitions, entrance into free prize draws, information about the latest writing competitions and events from around the world and more.