Adjudicators:
Helen Ivory & Martin Figura – Open Poetry Competition Prizes
Anna Saunders – Liverpool City Region Prizes
All entries for the Open Poetry Competition will, where eligible, be considered for the Liverpool City Region Prizes. Do not make any separate entries!
- Details
The competition is for unpublished poems in the English language, of no more than 40 lines, and is open to all, aged 18 and above. We will be offering a separate Youth Competition later in 2026. - The first prize is £250 with four runner-up prizes of £25 each. There are additional prizes reserved for poets living or working in the Liverpool City Region(LCR): a £100 overall LCR prize with two runner-up prizes of £25.
- There is no theme to this competition, so simply send us your best poems. You can enter as many poems as you wish.
- The deadline for receipt of all competition entries is 11.59pm (UK BST) on Friday 29 May 2026.
- All entries will be read by our Open Competition Judges: Helen Ivory and Martin Figura. Those eligible to be considered for the LCR prizes will also be read by our LCR Judge, Anna Saunders. You can read more about our judges below.The judges’ decisions are final, and no correspondence can be entered intoregarding the competition results.
- Please read all the rules and the how to enter section below before entering the competition – your poems might not be admissible if you do not comply.
Rules - The competition organisers can accept online submissions only.
- The competition is open to all entrants from anywhere in the world.
- Poems must be in English, unpublished, and no more than 40 lines in length.
- Poems must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant. If the competition organisers or adjudicators detect, at any stage, that your submission has been plagiarised or composed using AI, or that it has already been published, it will be disqualified immediately.
- Competition entries must take the format given below in the How to enter section – each poem on a separate page with the title at the top and anonymous.
- There is an entry charge of £4 per poem or £10 for 3 poems or £15 for 5 poems
- You can enter as many poems as you wish.
- Please note we do not offer refunds if a poem is withdrawn by the author.
- Please note also that we cannot waive the entry fee to individuals.
- The judge’s decisions are final, and no correspondence can be entered into regarding the competition results (or a decision to disqualify).
- The deadline for entering the competition is 11.59pm (UK BST) on Friday 29 May 2026. Any entries received after that time will not be included in the competition.
- Winners will be notified in July 2026
- Open Prizes are: 1st Prize: £250; 4 runner-up prizes of £25 each. LCR prizes: £100 with two LCR runner-up prizes of £25 each.
- To be considered for one of the LCR prizes, the postcode in your address must be from one of the following LCR boroughs: Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral
- A competition award ceremony and reading “Celebrating the Winners” will take place during the 2026 Wirral Poetry Festival in October 2026, when the First Prize Winner will be invited to read a selection of their poetry and other prize-winners invited to read their winning poems.
- Winning poems will be published on the Wirral Poetry Festival website. By entering the competition, it will be assumed that you have given permission for your poems to be displayed in this way.
- Data Protection: Names, addresses, email and telephone contact details of those entering the competition will be stored safely for up to 12 months and will be used for communications relating to Wirral Poetry Festival unless permission has been given to remain on our mailing list.
After costs ( Judge’s fees, prizes etc) – all submission monies will go to support the Wirral Poetry Festival 2026
How to Enter
The closing date for the receipt of all competition entries is
23:59 hours on Friday 29 May 2026
How to enter
- Decide how many poems in total you wish to submit
- Click the Book Now Button Below: The options are: One Poem, Two Poems, Three Poems, Five poems.
- This takes you to the payment page
- Once you have paid you will be taken to the booking confirmation page – which has a booking confirmation number – and you will also receive a confirmation email from TicketSource with the same information. Keep a record of the booking confirmation number.
- Prepare your poems for submission.
- Each poem should be in a separate document – please use either MS Word or PDF formats if possible.
- Do not put any identification on any of your poems.
- Attach your poems (preferably as MS s Word doc or pdf format) to an email to poetrycomp@wirralpoetryfestival.org.uk
- Remember to put a title for each poem at the top of the page.
- Do not include a poem that might be recognised by the judge through workshops, mentoring or public readings.
- Do not include a poem that has already been published
- In the body of your email please put the following information:
(1) Your booking confirmation number from Ticket Source
(2) Your name
(3) Your postal address including your postcode
(4) Your email address
(5) A contact mobile or landline telephone number
(6) A list of the titles of the poems attached to your email
We wish you luck and thank you for entering!
