We are pleased to be able to announce the first Winchester Poetry Prize.
Like the festival from which it springs Winchester Poetry Prize aims to surprise and delight.
First prize will be £1000, second prize £500 and third prize £250.
First prize will be £1000, second prize £500 and third prize £250.
In addition to receiving cash prizes winners will be invited to read at a special prize-giving event at Winchester Poetry Festival on Sunday 9 October 2016. Winning and commended poems will also be published in a competition anthology to be launched at the festival.
The prize will be judged by Mimi Khalvati who will read all the entries and will be present at the prize-giving event.Festival chair, the poet Stephen Boyce said: “Thomas Gray, whose Elegy Written in a Country Churchyardis one of the most evocative and memorable poems in the English language described poetry as “thoughts that breathe, and words that burn”. In launching the Winchester Poetry Prize we are inviting poets from around the country – and further afield – to send in their most inspired thoughts and incendiary words.”
Winchester Poetry Festival aims to promote and foster the most exciting talent with this open award.
The competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over and may be on any subject in any form or style and no longer than 40 lines. Entry fee is £5 for the first poem and £4 for subsequent entries.
Closing date is 31 July 2016. Full details of how to enter are on the Winchester Poetry Festival website.
The Winchester Poetry Prize is run in partnership with Hampshire Cultural Trust.
