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
June
The Bridport Prize 2009 (UK)
Closing date: 30 June
The Bridport Prize is the richest open writing competition in the English Language with GBP5,000 first prize for a short story (up to 5,000 words) and GBP5,000 first prize for a poem (up to 42 lines). The Bridport is also known as a tremendous literary stepping stone, the first step in the careers of writers such as Kate Atkinson, Tobias Hill, Carol Ann Duffy and Helen Dunmore.
All prize winning entries will be published in the Bridport Prize Anthology 2009 along with the judge's reports. The top four poems are submitted to the Forward Prize for best single poem, and the top thirteen eligible stories are submitted to the National Short Story Prize (worth GBP15,000). The winning stories and shortlist will be read by leading London literary agents with a view to representing writers.
Anyone can enter, so long as the work is previously unpublished. It costs GBP7 per story and GBP6 per poem. Entries can be submitted online at http://www.bridportprize.org.uk
July
Upper Hutt Poetry Competition
Closes: 10 July
Free entry, and open to everyone. Winners will be announced on Montana Poetry Day, 24th July.
Theme: the Elements - Earth, Wind, Fire, Water - preferably as they affect Upper Hutt.
Prizes: 1st $200 Book Vouchers; 2nd $100 Book Vouchers; 3rd $50 Book Vouchers. All prize winners will also receive a year's subscription to Valley Micropress.
August
Bravado International Competition
Closes: 31 August
The 6th Bravado International Poetry competition is judged this year by Sue Wootton, of Dunedin. You can download a copy of the rules and an entry form from the Bravado website at www.bravado.co.nz or send an e-mail to bravadoinfo@bravado.co.nz or, if you prefer, drop a line to: Competition Secretary, Bravado, PO Box 13 533, Central Tauranga 3141. Briefly, poems must be original, unpublished and no longer than 40 lines. Theme is unimportant, as is form, or whether free verse or rhyme.
