Poetry Contest Bahrain 2026, Qasida & Nabati

Quick answer: Monthly poetry contest for Bahraini poets. Write in Arabic or English, classical qasida to free verse, win cash prizes, certificates and detailed scores.

Poetry in Bahrain was sung at sea before it was printed on shore. The fijiri of Muharraq's pearl divers, verse carried by a lead nahham and answered by the crew, earned UNESCO inscription as intangible cultural heritage in 2021, and the written line runs just as deep. Ebrahim Al-Arrayedh led the island's literary movement through the twentieth century, and his former home in Manama now stands as the Ebrahim Al-Arrayedh Poetry House. Qassim Haddad of Muharraq pulled the Arabic qasida loose from its classical metres, and Hamda Khamis became the first Bahraini woman to publish a poetry collection with Shazaya in 1969, the same year the island's writers organised as Usrat al-Udaba wal-Kuttab.

Writory runs a monthly international poetry contest that reads Bahraini work exactly as it arrives, in Arabic, English or any other language, with no translation required at any stage. Entries open on the 1st, close on the 25th and results are published on the 30th. Winners take cash prizes, every entrant collects a participation certificate, and each poem comes back with a score across creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme. Poets from more than 50 countries have entered Writory, and a qasida from Manama is read in exactly that company.

Writory holds a monthly international poetry contest that Bahraini poets can enter in Arabic, English or any other language, with cash prizes for winners and a certificate for everyone who submits.

Why enter

Arabic and English entries reach the same judges under the same five criteria, so a qasida never waits behind an English poem or the other way round.
There is no set form, which means a Nabati piece in Gulf dialect and a tightly metred classical qasida are each read on their own terms.
Twelve separate contests a year, so missing the 25th one month costs you nothing more than a wait until the 1st.
Entry is open from age 13, putting secondary school writers in Riffa and Muharraq in the same reading pile as long practising poets.
Bahraini poets used to reciting at a majlis or a cultural evening in Manama get a monthly route to an international readership.

What winners and entrants receive

Cash prizes for the winning poems, announced on the 30th of the month you entered.
A participation certificate for every Bahraini entrant, placing or not.
Win a month and your next entry costs nothing, and the same applies after three months of entering in a row.
The month's top poems appear on the public leaderboard at writoryofficial.com/leaderboard.

Classical qasida, Nabati verse, qasidat al-nathr prose poems, ghazal, haiku and open free verse are all accepted, in Arabic, English or whichever language the poem arrived in.

Key facts

Entries open the 1st, close the 25th at 11:59 PM IST, results on the 30th.
One poem $5, two poems $8, five poems $15 (Rs 150 / Rs 220 / Rs 450 in India).
Every poem scored by human judges on five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme.
A participation certificate for every entrant, not only winners, and the score is visible in your profile.
Cash prizes for winners, free entry the following month for winners, open worldwide from age 13, any language.

Questions

I write in Arabic, sometimes in Bahraini dialect. Can I still enter?

Yes. Writory accepts poems in any language, so fusha, Nabati verse in Gulf dialect, English and mixed language work are all valid entries, and you never need to supply a translation alongside them.

How can judges compare a classical qasida with an English free verse poem fairly?

They do not compare forms, they score craft. Each poem is marked on creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme, and those five numbers come back to you with the results.

What will it cost me to submit from Bahrain?

Fees are charged in US dollars, and the dinar's fixed peg keeps the conversion steady: $5 buys one poem, around 1.9 Bahraini dinars, $8 buys two and $15 buys five. Winners pay nothing the month after they win, and three consecutive months of entering also earns a free entry.

How long is the wait between submitting and finding out?

Submission runs from the 1st to the 25th and the announcement comes on the 30th, so a poem sent early in the month is settled before that month ends.

By the Writory editorial team. Updated July 2026.

Enter the August contest · International poetry contest · Past winners · Read the winning poems