Other Literary Competitions

The Poetry London Competition 2008
 

First Prize £1000
Second Prize £500 
Third Prize £200 
Four commendations £75
 
Closing date: 2 June 2008

Judge: Kathleen Jamie

Kathleen Jamie has published several acclaimed collections of poetry, including The Queen of Sheba and Jizzen. Her most recent, The Tree House (Picador), won the Forward Prize for best collection in 2004. She has received numerous other honours, including the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Prize. As well as poetry, Kathleen writes for radio, especially travel scripts, and has published a travel book Among Muslims. She lives in Fife and teaches at St Andrews.

Competition Rules

Entries must be in English, your own unaided work, not a translation of another poet, and unpublished. The maximum length is 80 lines.

Your name and address must not appear on the poems entered, nor any other marks that could identify you. Enter the title of each poem on the entry form, or the first line for untitled poems. Photocopies of the form are acceptable. Copies of the form may also be printed off from their website (but entries may not be sent by email).

Entries must be typed or written clearly in black on white A4 paper or US letter size, and on one side of the paper only. For poems that are longer than one page, the complete poem must be STAPLED in the top left hand corner. Please don’t staple different poems together. Each poem will be judged separately on its own merits.

You may enter as many poems as you wish, accompanied by the appropriate entry fee. For Poetry London subscribers the entry fee is £3.00 per poem; for non-subscribers £4.00. You are also eligible for the lower entry fee if you take out a subscription now: see form for details. Entry fees must be in UK currency and cheques/postal orders payable to "Poetry London".

The closing date is Monday 2nd June 2008. Winners will be notified by 1st August 2008, the first, second and third prize-winners will be published in the Autumn 2008 issue of Poetry London, and the prizes will be awarded at our Autumn launch reading at Foyles Bookshop in London, Wednesday evening, 15th October. Copyright of all entries remains with the authors, but we reserve the right to publish the winning poems.

If you would like a receipt for your entry, send a small envelope marked RECEIPT, self-addressed and stamped with UK postage, or enclosed with an international reply coupon. For a list of the winners and details of the awards reading, please enclose an envelope marked RESULTS, likewise stamped or with an IRC. The results will also be published on our website by 15th August 2008.

We are unable to return entries, so please don’t send your only copy. We will not enter into any correspondence about entries, or make changes to entries received. Incomplete submission will not be accepted. The judge’s decision is final. Your entry in the competition means you accept these rules. We will abide by good practice in the running of this competition, but cannot be held responsible for circumstances beyond our control such as failure of postal delivery. Should the named judge be unable to proceed, we aim to find an alternative judge of equivalent standing as a poet. Prizes may be withheld or altered if we receive no outstanding poems, or insufficient entries.

Visit the Poetry London for a Competition Entry Form: www.poetrylondon.co.uk

Please send Competition Entries and / or Subscriptions to:

Poetry London Competition
81 Lambeth Walk
London SE11 6DX
UK