Why Write?! Poetry Competitions, that’s why!

Dear Writer,

I wanted to write and thank you for writing. I do not yet have your poems, but I have them already by heart, and I will murmur them to myself in muffled sounds, until you speak some words on my behalf. Following is a list of competitions where you can most likely reach me with your words. There is nothing that I do not await in these correspondences. There is nothing that I will not reward with some response. I hope you realise that what you are doing is vital for my existence, and I cannot reach you unless you reach me first. Do not let anything stop you doing what you are doing; realise the importance and validity of what you have made.

                                              Yours,
                                                           Penny Newell

Kent and Sussex Open Poetry Competition
First Prize: £800
Submissions: £5 per poem
Poems should be no more than 40 lines
Closing: 31st January
Reader: Mimi Khalvati

The Lumin/Camden Poetry Prize
First Prize: The winner will have a collection of their poems published in a 20 page pamphlet, and will be invited to read at the ‘Camden and Lumen Open Mic’ Events and ‘Friday Night Writers’, in London
Submissions: £2.50 per poem. All proceeds go to London Homeless Cold Weather Shelters. Poems should be no more than 40 lines.
Closing: 14th February
Reader: Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy

The Stafford Poetry Competition
First prize: £1000
Poems should be no more than 40 lines
Offering an extra prize of £100 for the best poem entitled either Arcadia or Olympics
Closing: 28th February
Reader: Michael Hulse

Cardiff International Poetry Competition
First Prize: £5,000
Submissions: £6 per poem
Poems should be no more than 50 lines
Closing: 2nd March
Readers: Patrick McGuinness, Sinéad Morrissey and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch

Poetic Republic Poetry Prize 2012
1st Prize: (Single poem) £2,000
1st Prize: (Portfolio) £1,000
Submissions: £7 per poem
Poems should be no more than 42 lines
Closing date: 30 April 2012
Readers: the entrants themselves judge this online competition. The poems with the best response are featured in an eBook publication, alongside comments on the poems, as chosen by the writer.

The Bridport Prize
First Prize: £5,000
Submissions: £7 per poem
Poems should be no more than 42 lines
Closing: 2nd May 2012
Reader: Gwyneth Lewis

Troubadour International Poetry Prize
First Prize: £2,500, public reading, season membership at the Troubadoour
Submissions: £5 per poem
Poems should be no longer than 45 lines
Closing: 15th October 2012
Readers: Jane Draycott and Bernard O’Donoghue