Young Poets Competition
Rap, hip-hop or Shakespeare – it’s all poetry and here’s a chance for young poets aged 16-22 to show off their word skills. Enter up to three poems in the Young Poets Competition for a fee of £3 per poem.
There is a top prize of £200, with second and third prizes of £150 and £100.
Winners receive a year’s membership to The Poetry Society.
Competitions open on 1 April and close on 31 July.
Young Poets Judge 2026
Julia Webb
Julia Webb is a writer and artist based in Norwich. She has four poetry collections with Nine Arches Press: Bird Sisters (2016), Threat (2019) The Telling (2022) and Grey Time (2025).
In 2011 she won the Poetry Society’s Stanza competition and in 2018 she won the Battered Moons Poetry competition. She has had two poems highly commended in the Forward Prize (2016, 2022).
Julia has taught creative writing for organisations such as Lapidus, MIND, Norfolk County Council, and The SAW Trust, and in 2016 she was writer in residence on Norwich market.
In 2024 she was commissioned by The National Centre for writing and Living wage Foundation to write a poem for Living Wage Week.
She currently runs real world and email poetry courses, and is a mentor for poets. She is steering editor for Lighthouse – a journal for new writers.
Competitions open 1 April 2026
Young Poets Competition opens 1 April and closes on 31 July 2026.
Prize Giving and Poetry Reading will take place on Monday 19 October starting at 2pm as part of the Festival.
Please read the rules and terms and conditions before submitting your entry.