Ware Poets Open Poetry Competition 2025 - enter now for a chance to win!
Ware Poets have launched their 27th annual Open Poetry Competition with prizes for the best poems and the best sonnet.
The competition is open to everyone – avid poets and first-time writers!
Poems must be in English, be your own original work and no longer than 50 lines. Entry is £5 per poem and the closing date is 30th April 2025. Poems can be submitted and paid for online or by post – full details on the Ware Poets website.
The judge for this year’s competition is the acclaimed local poet, Hannah Copley. Hannah’s 2024 collection Lapwing won second prize in the national Laurel Prize and was shortlisted for the prestigious T S Eliot Prize.
All winning and commended poems will be published in the Ware Poets 2025 Anthology, with a complimentary copy to each published poet. Further copies will be available to order from mid-July 2025.
The prize-winning poems will be featured on the Ware Poets website, and the poem awarded first prize will be entered for the Forward Prize for Poetry.
All winning and commended poets will also be invited to read their poem at the prize-giving evening on Friday 11th July 2025 at Southern Maltings Arts Centre in Ware, when Hannah will award the prizes and give a reading of her poems. As with all Ware Poets events, everyone is welcome to attend.
First prize £800
Second prize £400
Third prize £200
Sonnet prize £200
For full details of the competition, please visit: https://warepoets.org/competition-2025