New Zealand Poetry Society Te Hunga Tito Ruri o Aotearoa
Competition Deadlines
A comprehensive list of world-wide competitions is available to NZPS members on the members-only pages of this website.
Non-members might like to subscribe to Kudos, a UK-based competition listing resource at www.kudoswritingcompetitions.com
For haiku and related forms, check out the haiku competition pages at http://www.poetrysociety.org.nz/haikunews/competitions
January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December
Good advice:
Nervous about entering a poetry competition? Please feel free to read the advice at Writers' Services:
http://www.writersservices.com/services/s_entering_competitions.htm
and Winning Writers: http://www.winningwriters.com/contests/avoid/av_signs.php
February
Poems in the Waiting Room (NZ), Poetry Competition
Deadline: Must be received by 29 February
The 2012 poetry competition will be judged by Kay McKenzie Cooke.
1st prize: $175; 2nd prize: $125; 3rd prize: $75; D Scene best Dunedin poet prize: $75
Poems in the Waiting Room (NZ) is a Dunedin-based arts in health charity. Our aim is to provide a free source of well-chosen poetry for: patients waiting for medical appointments: rest home residents waiting for meals, outings or appointments: hospice patients and their families: and prison inmates.
Unpublished poems of up to 25 lines on any theme suitable for a waiting room environment will be accepted.
Entry Fee: $5.00 per poem or $10.00 for up to three poems
Each poem should be printed on one side of A4 paper and posted to Poems in the Waiting Room (NZ), 19 Hunt St, Dunedin 9013. No email entries, please.
FOR FULL ENTRY CONDITIONS PLEASE CHECK ONLINE AT www.waitingroompoems.wordpress.com
With thanks to Sylvia (Tui) Badcock, Speech Communication Assn. Otago, and D Scene for sponsoring the prizes.
March
Prole Laureate (UK)
Closes: 1 March
One entry: £3, subsequent entries, an extra £2 per entry.
The second Prole Laureate competition is now open. We are looking for a poet who epitomises the qualities of Prole: a writer who engages, challenges, entertains and is inclusive of a wide audience.
We are open to all forms of poetry: free, blank, structured, rhymed. You write it, we'll read it. The only arbiters that will inform the shortlist are the elements mentioned above. Once the short list is formed, it will be sent to our Judge. A full version of guidelines for our competition can be found at: http://www.prolebooks.co.uk/page6.html
This is an international competition. Winners will be announced in the April 2012 issue of Prole and on our website 30th April. Winner: £130, publication in the April 2012 issue of Prole and on our website. Two runners up: £25 each, publication on our website and possible publication in April 2012 issue of Prole.
Entries are welcome by email and post: poetrycompetition@prolebooks.co.uk
or
Prolebooks, 15 Maes-y-Dre, Abergele, Conwy LL22 7HW, United Kingdom
Cardiff International Poetry Competition (UK)
Closing Date: 2 March
For poems up to 50 lines. Judges, Sinéad Morrissey and Patrick McGuinness. Filter judge, Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch. Ist prize £5000, then £500, £250 and 5 X £50. Full details on website: www.literaturewales.org/cipc
Fish Publishing International Poetry Contest (UK)
Closes: 31 March
Judge: Billy Collins
The winner and nine runners-up will be published in the 2012 Fish Anthology. First Prize - €1,000; Second Prize - a week at the Anam Cara Writers' & Artists' Retreat in West Cork's Beara Peninsula, with €300 traveling expenses. The best ten poems will be published in the 2012 Anthology and each poet will receive five copies of the Anthology. All winning poets will be invited to the launch of the 2012 Fish Anthology. This will take place during the West Cork Literary Festival in July 2012.
How to Enter: You can enter online or by post. The cheaper option is to enter online. To Enter online, submit your poem(s) through the online entry system on our website. Please do not send poems as email attachments. If you have any difficulty submitting your poem(s), post your problem at Feedback and Support. Website: http://www.fishpublishing.com/poetry-contest-competition.php
Flash 500 Humour Verse Competition (UK)
Closing date: 31 March
Entry fee: £3 for the first poem, then £2.50 for each poem thereafter. Line Length: Up to 30 lines
Prizes: First: £150 plus publication; Second: £100; Third: £50. The results will be announced within six weeks of the closing date and the three winning entries will be published on the website. Website: http://www.flash500.com/index_files/humourverse.html
April
Odes to Olympians (USA)
Closing date: 30 April
Free entry competition run regularly by Tapestry of Bronze. This round's theme is Ares (Mars), God of War. First prize is $50, for a poem up to 30 lines, honouring the god. For full details and previous winners, see: http://www.tapestryofbronze.com/OdeForm.html
Poetic Republic Poetry Prize (UK)
Closing date: 30 April
1st Prize (Single poem) £2,000; 1st Prize Portfolio) £1,000
Peer review online poetry competition judged by the entrants themselves. The event will culminate with a collaborative eBook publication featuring the best poems and comments, as chosen by the participants.
Any subject or style: Poetry or Prose Poetry, Maximum 42 lines. Entry fee £7.
To find out more and to enter online please visit: www.poeticrepublic.com
May
The Bridport Prize (UK)
Closing date: 31 May
International Writing Competition for Short Story, Poetry and Flash Fiction. 2012 Poetry judge: Gwyneth Lewis. 2012 Short Story & Flash Fiction judge: Patrick Gale.
Entry fees: £6 per flash fiction, £7 per poem, £8 per story (or equivalent in US dollars/Euros. Credit card payments from overseas entrants are accepted but
NOT bank drafts, transfers etc)
Prizes: For each of the Short Story and Poetry sections: 1st prize £5,000, 2nd prize £1,000, 3rd prize £500, + 10 highly commended prizes of £50 each.
Flash Fiction: st prize £1,000, 2nd prize £500, 3rd prize £250, + 3 highly commended prizes of £25 each.
All winning entries published in anthology.
Entry forms from: Frances Everitt, Competition Administrator, The Bridport Prize, PO Box 6910, Bridport, Dorset DT6 9BQ, UK. SAE required.
or enter online: www.bridportprize.org.uk
June
Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse (USA)
Closing date: 30 June (postmarked or submitted online.)
First prize is $3,000. A total of $5,550 in prizes will be awarded.
What to Submit: Poetry in traditional verse forms. Your entry should be your own original work. You may submit the same poem simultaneously to this contest and to others, and you may submit poems that have been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the online publication rights.
By traditional verse, we mean any poem that employs regular meter and/or rhyme, or is written in a recognized poetic form. This includes traditional Western forms such as ballads, sonnets, and blank verse, and Asian forms such as tanka and haiku.
The entry fee is $8 for every 25 lines you submit. If you submit a sonnet of 14 lines and a haiku of 3 lines, totalling 17 lines, the fee would be $8. If you submit two villanelles of 19 lines each, totalling 38 lines, the fee would be $16. Exclude your poem titles and any blank lines from your line count. There is no limit on the number of lines or number of poems you may submit. Please note: Generally entry fees are not refundable. However, if you believe you have an exceptional circumstance, please contact us within one year of your entry.
Website for full set of guidelines and online entry: http://winningwriters.com/contests/margaret/ma_guidelines.php
September
Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry Contest (USA)
Closing date: 30 September (postmarke or online entry)
First prize is $3,000. A total of $5,550 in prizes will be awarded, plus a $250 bonus prize for humorous verse. Submit poems in any style, theme or genre.
What to Submit: Poetry in any style or theme. Your entry should be your own original work. You may submit the same poem simultaneously to this contest and to others, and you may submit poems that have been published or won prizes elsewhere, as long as you own the online publication rights.
The entry fee is $8 for every 25 lines you submit. If you submit a sonnet of 14 lines and a haiku of 3 lines, totaling 17 lines, the fee would be $8. If you submit three poems of 15 lines each, totaling 45 lines, the fee would be $16. Exclude your poem titles and any blank lines from your line count. There is no limit on the number of lines or number of poems you may submit. Please note: Generally entry fees are not refundable. However, if you believe you have an exceptional circumstance, please contact us within one year of your entry.
Website for full guidelines and online entry: http://winningwriters.com/contests/tompoetry/tp_guidelines.php
