Open Poetry Competition
We are delighted to announce the 2026
Open Poetry shortlist
Daughters Of The Marsh – Abegail Morley
Diagnosis – Vinita Agrawal
Exit Wound – Nick Bowman
Gap – Suzanna Fitzpatrick
I Dated An Ex-Communist – Iain McClure
I Have A Polaroid Of Me – Laura Strickland
Late Season – Belinda Rimmer
Lecture Theatre – Joan Baxter
Miles – Russell Buzby
Not Beauty But Reach – Sally Steel
Nunavut – Lucy Manners
Oranges – Sharon Black
Spell For Childhood – Danielle Mcshine
Still Life With Walking Frame – Elaine Desmond
The Chameleon – Caroline Good
The Water Menu – Sarah Barr
Tractatus Galapagos – Peter Marshall
When The Gorse Is Out – Kristina Diprose
Why The Whales Cannot To Forget The Beach – Damen O\’Brien
Woman At The Window – Iain McClure
Prize Giving and Poetry Reading will take place on Monday 19 October at 2pm as part of the Festival.
Tickets to this event are free but seats can be reserved here.
Open Poetry Judge 2026
Clare Shaw
Clare Shaw (they/them) has four poetry collections with Bloodaxe. Their fourth collection Towards a General Theory of Love (2022) is an exploration of love and its absence: it won a Northern Writer’s Award, and was a Poetry Society Book of the Year.
Their next collection, I Know What I Saw, will be published with Bloodaxe in 2027.
Drawing on their background in mental health and their passion for nature and place, Clare’s writing often engages with the intersections of ecology, resilience and social justice.