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the Poetry kit
ISSN
1468-3075
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THE POETRY KIT NEWSLETTER October 2026 |
NEWSLETTER CONTENTS
1 - Editors Notes
Submitting information to The Poetry Kit
To enable the contents and usefulness of the Poetry Kit Newsletter to grow we put it out as an attachment. It will still arrive every month in an email but the bulk of the newsletter itself will be in the attachment. To submit information for inclusion in any area of The Poetry Kit including the Newsletter please see submission details at
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Regular Open Mic Events in the UK
Some face to face poetry events have not restarted. Please check before turning up.
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COMPETITIONS CLOSING SOON - OTHER COMPETITIONS CAN BE FOUND AT
http://www.poetrykit.org/comps.htm
4 October 2026
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.
9 October 2026
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.
19 October 2026
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.
26 October 2026
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.
26 October 2026
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.
30 October 2026
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.
31 October 2026
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.
31 October 2026
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.
31 October 2026
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.
31 October 2026
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.
31 October 2026
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.
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| NEW SHORT COURSES | SHORT COURSES | OTHER COURSES | ||
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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, youll experiment with
different approaches and develop a stronger instinct for knowing
when a poem has said enough. BOOK NOW
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=MUEQCEP2LH6K8 Time in Poetry Starts 2nd November
2026 Time can be one of the most powerful
tools available to a poet. Over three weeks, well 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 |
Also starting 5th October Memoir writing 5 week course A practical guided course to help develop memoir writing. 65 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)
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For a more complete listing of courses and availability please see