International Competitions
2026 Winners
Congratulations to all this year’s winners. We received so many outstanding entries from talented writers that our judges faced a tough choice in choosing the finalists. Click on each of the categories below to read the winning entries.
Poetry Reading and Prize Giving 2026 Galleries
You can now also follow our new Competitions Instagram account: wellsfestivalcompetitions
Competition Archive
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2022 Open Poetry Results
Congratulations to Carolyn Gillespie for her winning entry Black Bird-Shaped Hole Black Bird-Shaped Hole Like the sleep-drunk teenager back home, in bed,the dawn is pallid and reluctant.Edges are still blurred,and down the lane,the skeleton beeches seem insubstantial.I could wipe them away, like fog from my glasses,if I wanted to.I am waiting for the dog, who…
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2022 Prize Winners announced
While our 30th Anniversary Festival was in full swing, we were delighted to hold our traditional Poetry and Prize Giving event – in Cedars Hall on Monday 17 October. The time had come to announce the Competition winners! The event was well attended, and some 39 poems were read out, 14 from the Young Poets section and a…
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2021 International Competition Results
Our 2021 International Competitions attracted more entries than ever before with our poetry competitions alone bringing in more than 1000 poems between them. We are delighted to reveal below the winning entries which were announced at the Poetry Readings and Prize Giving event which took place during the Festival in Cedars Hall on Monday 18…
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2020 International Competitions: Winners
Congratulations to all the winners, and we would also like to thank everyone who entered. You can watch a recording of our 2020 Poetry Reading and Prize Giving event. Open Poetry Competition Our 2020 Open Poetry Competition judge Sean Borodale was selected in 2014 as a Poetry Book Society Next Generation Poet. His first collection,…