THE POETRY KIT 12th INTERNATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION 2025

Our competition this year is open to poems from around the world written in English and which can be on any subject or theme.  There are no style or length restrictions, but it should be stressed that a short poem is just as likely to be selected as a longer one.

1st prize is valued at £220  2nd prize is valued at £60

ENTER ONLINE  www.poetrykit.org/2-intcomp.htm

After the End Project Poetry Competition

The ‘After the End’ research project, in collaboration with the National Poetry Centre, is inviting poets worldwide to submit original, previously unpublished work as part of the exciting research project exploring time, temporality, and the question of endings. This initiative aims to draw inspiration from poets far and wide, inviting contributions on the themes of the research project, bringing new perspectives to the questions posed, seeking to understand who decides when something has ended and how different experiences of endings shape lives, communities, and policies globally.

Poems should therefore engage with the concept of “after the end,” exploring the temporal, ethical, social, or emotional dimensions of endings. Submissions may draw on personal, historical, or global events, reflect on lived experiences, or experiment with form and perspective. There are no restrictions on style or genre but poems should be no more than 40 lines.

Open internationally to poets of all experience levels. The winners will be announced on 1st February 2026.

Judges: Professor Patricia Kingori, Nick Barley, Professor Laura Salisbury, Professor Osman Sankoh, Salma Begum, Chris Hassan, Nike Jonah and Khadijah Ibrahim

Prizes: First £200 Second and Third £100

See Poetry competition 2025 is open! — After The End

The Moth Poetry Prize is open to anyone (over 16) from anywhere in the world, as long as the work is original and previously unpublished.

There is no line limit, and the poems can be on any subject.

The entry fee is €16 per poem. You can ENTER ONLINE or send your poem(s) along with a cheque or postal order made payable to ‘The Moth Magazine Ltd.’ with an ENTRY FORM or a cover letter with your name and contact details and the title of your poem(s) attached to: The Moth, Ardan Grange, Milltown, Belturbet, Co. Cavan, Ireland H14 K768.

Please remember to READ THE RULES of the competition before you enter.

CLOSING DATE 31 DECEMBER 2025

See The Moth Magazine

Kenyon Review Poetry Contest.

The Kenyon Review publishes the winning poetry in print (with corresponding contributor payment), and the author is awarded a full scholarship to attend the Kenyon Review Writers Workshops. (Note: If you are a high school student in your sophomore or junior year, please submit to the Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers.)

see Poetry Contest

The Wolverhampton Literature Festival Poetry Competition is opening their submissions call for poets across the globe.

Entrants are welcome to submit poems of any subject. Poems must be previously unpublished, written in the English language, and be under 40 lines. Judges: Martin Figura, Helen Ivory and Steve Pottinger

There will be cash prizes of £400 (1st) £150 (2nd), and three £25 (3rd). There is an additional prize of £50 for the best poem from someone living in a WV post code.

see  Wolves Lit Fest Poetry Competition 2026 – Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists

The Shepton Mallet Snowdrop Festival Poetry Competition

Open for online for poetry entries in English, in any style or genre, written to the theme of ‘In The Garden’ until 4th January 2026.

Prizes: 18 & Over – £300 12 to 17 – £100 11 & Under – £50

Judge: Wendy Pratt

ll shortlisted poems are printed in a pamphlet and there will be readings at the prize-giving in Shepton Mallet during the festival on Saturday 21st February 2026.

See 2026 Poetry Competition - Shepton Snowdrops

The Charles Causley Trust Poetry Competition is now open for submissions for poems on the theme of Family.

Poems must be previously unpublished and be under 40 lines max. Judge: Fiona Benson

The first prize winner will receive £1,000 and a week-long residency in Cyprus Well. The second prize winner will receive a cash prize of £200. The third prize winner will receive a cash prize of £100. Podium winners will receive Launceston Poetry Festival 2026 general passes. There will also be two Highly Commended placed poets.

see

THE POETRY KIT 12th INTERNATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION 2025

Our competition this year is open to poems from around the world written in English and which can be on any subject or theme.  There are no style or length restrictions, but it should be stressed that a short poem is just as likely to be selected as a longer one.

1st prize is valued at £220  2nd prize is valued at £60

ENTER ONLINE  www.poetrykit.org/2-intcomp.htm

\``0 is open for entries in two categories

The Judge’s Prize – poems of 11 to 50 lines

The Editors’ Prize – poems of up to 10 lines

Deadline 31 January 2026 11.59pm GMT

First prize for the Judge’s and Editors’ Prize is £1000, second prize £300 and third prize £150.

The three prize-winning poems from each category will be published in Magma and there will also be five special mentions for each of the Judge’s Prize and Editors’ Prize categories. All winning and commended poems will be published online on the Magma website. Winning and commended poets will be invited to read their poems at a Magma Competition event in Spring 2026.

See Magma Poetry Competition - Magma Poetry

The Kent & Sussex Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition 2026

Open for submissions. Judge: Mimi Khalvati

Poems must be written in the English language, previously unpublished, 40 lines or fewer in any style and subject.  There will be cash prizes of £1,000 (1st), £300 (2nd), £100 (3rd), and 4 x £50 (Commended). Prizewinning poems will be published in the annual Folio anthology.

see Kent & Sussex Poetry Society Open Poetry Competition, 2026 – The Kent & Sussex Poetry Society

 Nature and Place Poetry competition 2026.

The RSPB and The Rialto are additionally working with BirdLife International, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative and the University of Leeds Poetry Centre. r entries close at midnight on 1^st April 2026.

 As well as offering poets the chance to win considerable cash prizes and publication of their poems, the competition supports conservation and poetry. We are working in partnership with leading independent UK poetry magazine, The Rialto, as we feel the magazine will be the perfect place to showcase the winning entries.

Prizes  1st PRIZE £1000  2nd PRIZE £500  3rd PRIZE £250

Our judge is celebrated poet, Mona Arshi.

The entry fee is £7 for the first poem and £4 for each subsequent poem.

Full details and the facility to enter online can be found on The Rialto website:

  https://www.therialto.co.uk/pages/nature-poetry-competition/

The Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize

Open to submissions of poems up to 30 lines, based on the subject of either ‘dystopia’ or ‘utopia’. The theme of this year competition has been chosen to mark the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s The Last Man. Entrants can interpret the theme freely, but poems drifting too far from the theme will not be considered.

The competition will be judged by Rupert Christiansen, Will Kemp and Professor Deryn Rees-Jones.

The Keats-Shelley Poetry Prize is open to all. Winners receive £1000. Two highly commended entrants will receive £500. All winning and highly commended poems will be published in The Keats-Shelley Review and on the Keats-Shelley website.

See Keats-Shelley Prizes 2025-26

The Frogmore Poetry Prize

Open for Poems must be in English, unpublished and not currently submitted elsewhere or accepted for future publication. They must not previously have been awarded a prize in any other competition. Poems should be typed and no longer than forty lines. Judge: Mike Barlow

The winner of the Frogmore Poetry Prize (founded 1987) will receive two hundred and fifty guineas and a two-year subscription to The Frogmore Papers. The first and second runners-up will receive seventy-five and fifty guineas respectively and a year’s subscription to The Frogmore Papers. Shortlisted poets will receive copies of selected Frogmore Press publications.

see Frogmore Poetry Prize 2026 – submission guidelines – The Frogmore Press