2022 Competitions shortlists are announced

Just imagine! First prize in the Poetry Competition- a whopping £100! That of course was 30 years ago when £100 actually felt like £100; a small fortune in fact! Since then, the prize money has grown (as has the entry fee, admittedly), and so have the Competitions themselves.
To see this year’s shortlists, please click the competition links below.

In 1992 entries were received by post, many of them hand-written, from as far afield as Peterborough, Bexhill on Sea and even London… In 2021 more than 1000 poems were submitted from, well, almost everywhere. Plus, there were innumerable entries in the other categories – arriving online in a steady stream from 1 April right through to midnight on 30 June, dates which remain the same in this our anniversary year. (Make a note!)

Prizes for all four competitions will be presented on Monday 17 October 2022 during the Festival.
The Poetry Reading for both the Young Poets and Open Poetry takes place immediately before the Prize Giving for all four categories. This special occasion is one of the highlights of the Festival when, for the first time, the winning writers are revealed and rewarded.

Our shortlists for each competition can be found by clicking the buttons below.