Poetry Competitions in the UK and Ireland 2026
Quick answer: 19 British and Irish poetry competitions with fees in £ and €, 4 taking entries right now (September 2026) and 1 free to enter, followed by 11 worldwide prizes taking entries today that poets in the UK and Ireland can also enter. Each is listed with its entry fee, prize, who can enter and a live open or closed status derived from the organiser's own dates. Every figure was read on the official site in September 2026; confirm there before paying.
The UK has the densest poetry competition calendar in the English speaking world: the Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition closes every 31 October, Bridport at the end of May, Ledbury in July, and the Irish prizes from the Moth and Fish fill the spring. Most are open to poets anywhere, charge £5 to £13 a poem and take unpublished work only.
Open now (4)
- Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award (Ireland). Open, closes September 30. Entry: Entry fee per collection. Prize: Cash prize for an unpublished collection. For an unpublished collection by a poet not yet having published a book; the deadline usually falls in early autumn, so confirm the date.
- National Poetry Competition (United Kingdom). Open, closes October 31. Entry: £9 first poem, £6 each subsequent. Prize: 1st £5,000, 2nd £3,000, 3rd £2,000, plus commendations. Run by the Poetry Society and open worldwide; one of the best known single poem prizes in English.
- The Bedford Competition (Poetry) (United Kingdom). Open, closes October 31. Entry: £8.50 per poem, £17 for three. Prize: 1st £2,000, 2nd £400, 3rd £300. An annual open competition with parallel poetry and short story strands; confirm the opening month on their site.
- Mslexia Women's Poetry Competition (United Kingdom). Open, closes December 7. Entry: £12 for up to three poems. Prize: 1st £2,000, 2nd £500, 3rd £250, an Unpublished Poet Prize of £250; winners and 16 finalists published in Mslexia. For women of any nationality in any country; unpublished poems of any length, no AI, closing 7 December 2026 with winners announced 1 March 2027.
Closed at the moment, reopening on schedule (15)
- Gregory O'Donoghue International Poetry Prize (Ireland). Opens November 1. Entry: €7 per poem, or €30 for a batch of five. Prize: 1st €2,000, 2nd €500, winning poems published. From the Munster Literature Centre; the winner is flown to read at the Cork poetry festival.
- The Moth Poetry Prize (Ireland). Opens December 1. Entry: €17 per poem. Prize: 1st €6,000, with three €1,000 runner up prizes. One of the richest prizes for a single unpublished poem; judged anonymously and open worldwide.
- Kent and Sussex Open Poetry Competition (United Kingdom). Opens October 1. Entry: £5 per poem, £4 each for three or more. Prize: 1st £1,000, 2nd £300, 3rd £100. Run since 1985 by one of England's oldest poetry societies; closes on the last day of January.
- Magma Poetry Competition (United Kingdom). Opens October 1. Entry: £5 first poem, £4 second, £3.50 each after; less for subscribers. Prize: 1st £1,000, 2nd £300, 3rd £150 in each of two categories. Two prizes, the Judge's Prize and the Editors' Prize for shorter poems; closes at the end of January.
- Fish Poetry Prize (Ireland). Opens March 1. Entry: €16 first poem, €11 each subsequent. Prize: 1st €1,000, plus a Fish writing course prize. From Fish Publishing in West Cork; winners appear in the annual anthology launched at a festival.
- The Rialto Nature and Place Poetry Competition (United Kingdom). Opens December 1. Entry: £7 first poem, £4 each further poem. Prize: 1st £1,000, 2nd £500, 3rd £250, winning poems published in The Rialto. Run with the RSPB and BirdLife International for poems of up to 40 lines on nature and place; no residency rule, closing 1 April in both 2025 and 2026.
- The Bridport Prize (Poetry) (United Kingdom). Opens December 1. Entry: £13 per poem. Prize: 1st £5,000, 2nd £1,000, 3rd £500, plus highly commended prizes. A major international competition based in Dorset; the poetry deadline falls at the end of May.
- Poetry London Prize (United Kingdom). Opens March 1. Entry: £10 per poem, £5 for subscribers; free entries for writers on UK means tested benefits. Prize: 1st £5,000, 2nd £2,000, 3rd £1,000, winners published in the autumn issue. Open to poets anywhere in the world writing in English, poems up to 80 lines, unlimited entries; the 2026 round ran 13 March to 30 June.
- Wells Festival of Literature Open Poetry Competition (United Kingdom). Opens April 1. Entry: £8 per poem. Prize: 1st £1,000, 2nd £500, 3rd £250, and £100 for the best local poet. Open worldwide for poems of up to 40 lines, entered anonymously as a PDF; runs 1 April to 30 June with winners announced at the festival in October. A separate young poets category covers ages 16 to 22.
- Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award (United Kingdom). Opens February 1. Entry: free. Prize: Prizes, mentoring and publication for young poets. Free to enter for poets aged 11 to 17 anywhere in the world; deadline at the end of July.
- Ledbury Poetry Competition (United Kingdom). Opens March 1. Entry: £6 per poem, up to ten poems. Prize: 1st £1,000 and a week's Arvon poetry course, 2nd £500, 3rd £250. Open to poets aged 18 or over anywhere, poems up to 40 lines in English; closes in July, on the 27th in 2026, with the winner read at the Ledbury Poetry Festival.
- Winchester Poetry Prize (United Kingdom). Opens April 1. Entry: £7 first poem, £5 each further poem; free entry through the Pay It Forward scheme for poets on low incomes. Prize: 1st £1,000, 2nd £500, 3rd £250, plus a £150 prize for a Hampshire poet; longlist published in an anthology. Anyone aged 16 or over in any country, poems up to 40 lines in English, judged anonymously; runs April to 31 July with results at the October festival.
- Aesthetica Creative Writing Award (Poetry) (United Kingdom). Opens December 1. Entry: £12 per poetry entry. Prize: £2,500 to the poetry winner, of a £5,000 total pot. Runs from the 1st of December to the 31st of August every year, with a short late window after the standard close.
- Fool for Poetry International Chapbook Competition (Ireland). Opens July 1. Entry: €25 per manuscript. Prize: Chapbook publication by the Munster Literature Centre. A full chapbook manuscript rather than a single poem; run by the Munster Literature Centre in Cork.
- Manchester Poetry Prize (United Kingdom). Opens periodic windows. Entry: £18 per portfolio of three to five poems (last edition). Prize: Large cash prize for a portfolio of poems. A £10,000 prize for a portfolio of three to five poems from Manchester Metropolitan University, open to any nationality over 16; no edition has run since 2023, and the university says future dates will be posted when confirmed.
Worldwide prizes open right now to poets in the UK and Ireland (11)
- Writory International Poetry Contest (International). Open now. Entry: Shown in your local currency (a free entry option is available each month). Prize: Cash prizes, a certificate for every poet, and a five criteria score. Opens on the 1st, closes on the 25th, results on the 30th, every single month. Every poem is scored on creativity, emotion, structure, language and impact and resonance.
- Frontier Poetry Myths and Fables Prize (United States). Closing soon, September 13. Entry: $20 per submission. Prize: 1st $3,000, 2nd $300, 3rd $200, plus publication. A themed annual prize from Frontier, which runs several through the year; a limited free entry window exists for historically marginalized poets.
- Tom Howard / Margaret Reid Poetry Contest (United States). Open, closes October 1. Entry: $25 per submission of up to 3 poems. Prize: $12,000 total across the Tom Howard and Margaret Reid prizes. From Winning Writers, with one category for any style and one for traditional rhyme and meter.
- Reuben Rose Memorial Poetry Competition (International). Open, closes October 1. Entry: $6 for one poem, $14 for three. Prize: 1st $500, 2nd $200, 3rd $100, plus honourable mentions. Run by Voices Israel for English language poetry from anywhere in the world; confirm the opening month on their site.
- Missouri Review Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize (Poetry) (United States). Open, closes October 1. Entry: US$25, which includes a one year digital subscription and a digital TMR Books title. Prize: US$5,000 and publication in the spring issue; every entry considered for publication. Six to twelve pages of unpublished poems, judged by the magazine's editors; no residency rule, though University of Missouri students and staff cannot enter.
- Peter Porter Poetry Prize (Australia). Open, closes October 14. Entry: AU$30 per poem, AU$20 for ABR subscribers. Prize: 1st AU$6,000; four other shortlisted poets AU$1,000 each. Run by Australian Book Review and open to living poets anywhere in the world; one unpublished poem of up to 60 lines, the 2027 prize closing 14 October 2026.
- PRISM international Pacific Spirit Poetry Prize (Canada). Open, closes October 31. Entry: CA$35 per entry from any country, CA$5 each further entry; free entries for Black and Indigenous writers and some low income writers on request. Prize: CA$1,500, CA$600 and CA$400. From UBC Creative Writing and open to all writers, one to three poems of up to 100 lines; the current deadline is published only on Submittable, and the window shown is the magazine's usual one.
- The Malahat Review Open Season Awards (Poetry) (Canada). Open, closes November 1. Entry: CA$35 from Canada or CA$45 from elsewhere, CA$20 or CA$30 early bird until 30 September; CA$10 each further entry; first entry includes a one year print subscription. Prize: CA$2,000 and publication in each of poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. University of Victoria magazine, open internationally; up to three poems of 100 lines or fewer per entry, not published or submitted elsewhere, closing 1 November.
- Prairie Fire Poetry Contest (Bliss Carman Poetry Award) (Canada). Open, closes November 30. Entry: CA$34 per entry, with a subscription for the first entry in each category. Prize: CA$1,250 and an honourable mention in each of poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction. Winnipeg magazine with McNally Robinson Booksellers, open internationally; up to three unpublished poems totalling 150 lines, entries taken any time before 30 November.
- The Fiddlehead Ralph Gustafson Prize for Best Poem (Canada). Open, closes December 1. Entry: CA$35 from Canadian addresses or CA$50 from elsewhere, CA$10 each further entry, with a one year subscription. Prize: CA$2,000, publication and CA$65 a page. University of New Brunswick magazine, open internationally; up to three poems of 100 lines or fewer, closing 1 December.
- Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest (United States). Open, closes April 1. Entry: free. Prize: $5,100 in total prizes, 1st $2,000. A genuinely free contest from Winning Writers for humorous poetry; closes on April 1.
Questions poets ask
Which UK & Ireland poetry competitions are free to enter?
Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award cost nothing to enter. Writory also gives a free entry to each month's winners and to poets who enter three months in a row, so a fee is never the only way in.
What poetry competitions in the UK and Ireland close next?
The next British and Irish deadlines are Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award on 30 September, National Poetry Competition on 31 October, The Bedford Competition (Poetry) on 31 October. The list sorts itself by the nearest deadline and marks anything closing within ten days, so the urgent ones are always at the top.
Are UK poetry competitions open to poets outside the UK?
Nearly all of them. The National Poetry Competition, Bridport, Ledbury, Poetry London, Magma and the Irish prizes accept entries from any country as long as the poem is in English and unpublished. The exceptions are youth prizes with residency rules and a few regional prizes; each row's notes say when a competition is limited to residents.
How much do British poetry competitions charge?
Typically £5 to £13 per poem, with a discount for further poems in the same entry. The National Poetry Competition is £9 for the first poem and £6 for each after that, Bridport £13 a poem. Foyle Young Poets, run by the Poetry Society for 11 to 17 year olds, is free.
How is Writory different from the British and Irish competitions here?
Writory runs every month rather than once a year, from the 1st to the 25th with results on the 30th, and every entrant gets a score out of 100, a certificate and a written reading of the poem rather than a rejection. Poets from the UK and Ireland compete in one worldwide field; the entry is US$5 for one poem.
Other countries
By the Writory editorial team. Statuses computed September 2026. Writory's contest for poets in United Kingdom, Writory's contest for poets in Ireland, enter Writory's monthly contest, how to enter a poetry contest.