October 2026
Welcome to the October edition of the Poetry Kit Newsletter. Here you will find competition deadlines and details of poetry courses.
To submit information for inclusion in Poetry Kit or a future newsletter, visit our submissions page.
Regular open mic events in the UK — please check directly with organisers before attending.
October 2026 deadlines. Always check the organiser's rules and closing date. For further opportunities visit our competition listings.
Prize: £500 first prize; two £100 commendation prizes
Entry: Free
Poems of up to 40 lines on Modern Cockney identities and diaspora, or unity and comradeship in East End communities. Open to entrants aged over 18.
Entry: £5; £1 for under-18s; free for entrants with lived experience as a refugee
A poetry competition listed by the National Poetry Library, with adult and young-person entry routes. Check the organiser's current rules for themes, prizes and eligibility before entering.
First prize: £400 adult main prize
Entry: £3 first poem; £1 each subsequent poem in the same submission; free for young poets
Theme: Music. Up to six poems, maximum 40 lines each. Open worldwide. Judge: Suzanna Fitzpatrick. Adult, young poet, local Waltham Forest and funniest-poem prizes are available.
Entry: Purchase of one qualifying pamphlet allows two poems; purchase of two allows five poems
A themed poetry opportunity listed by the National Poetry Library. Check Candlestick Press for the current rules and prize information before entering.
Entry: £20
For poetry pamphlet manuscripts of 16–25 pages. Winning pamphlets are expected to be published during 2027/28; shortlisted poets may also be selected for publication in iOTA magazine.
First prize: £100; four runners-up receive £25 book tokens
Entry: Free
For UK-based entrants. Submit an original poem of up to 25 lines exploring mental health and wellbeing. Winner and shortlisted poets will be published in Happiful.
First prize: £5,000; second £3,000; third £2,000; commended prizes £500
Entry: £9 first poem; £6 subsequent poems
Run by The Poetry Society. Open worldwide to poets aged 18 and over for an unpublished poem of up to 40 lines. Judges: Niall Campbell, Malika Booker and Luke Kennard.
First prize: £2,000; second £400; third £300
Entry: £8.50
International short story and poetry competition, open to entrants over 17. Shortlisted and winning entries are published in the competition anthology. Poetry judge: Fran Lock.
First prize: €1,000; second €250; third €150
Entry: €18 standard fee
Open internationally for previously unpublished poems in English of no more than 40 lines, with no restriction on theme or style.
First prizes: £300 audio category and £300 text category; four £25 runners-up
Entry: £5 per poem or £20 for five
Open worldwide for poems of up to 50 lines on the theme Free Speech or Fake News.
First prize: £250; two further prizes of £100
Entry: £5 per poem
Unpublished poems on any subject, maximum 40 lines. Judge: Daljit Nagra. Winning poets are invited to read at the Fellowship AGM at Steep, Hampshire.
Course information as published in the October issue. Check availability before booking.
The Art of the Ending
Starts 5 October 2026
How do you know when a poem has
finished? This three-week course explores the art of creating
memorable endings through surprise, resonance, ambiguity and
restraint. Through practical exercises, you’ll experiment with
different approaches and develop a stronger instinct for knowing
when a poem has said enough.
BOOK NOW
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Time in Poetry
Starts 2nd November
2026
Time can be one of the most powerful
tools available to a poet. Over three weeks, we’ll explore
memory, tense, chronology and the movement between past and
present, experimenting with ways to stretch moments, compress
years and make time work harder in your poems.
BOOK NOW
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=LGR5D2FWTG8V2
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=FA44PJSFBCDTL
Click link below for a list of all available short courses
MENTORING
Our most popular course is the longer
mentoring programme. This lasts from 3 to 6 months
depending on response times from the participant. All
mentoring is with Jim Bennett and is individually designed to
meet the needs of the participant. The cost of this is
£110 but places are limited. For further details or to
enrol for this course, go to
mentoring (poetrykit.org)