Poetry Contest Bhutan 2026, Tsangmo & Lozey

Quick answer: Monthly poetry contest for Bhutanese poets. Write in Dzongkha, English, Nepali or any language, win cash prizes, earn certificates and detailed scores.

The tsangmo is Bhutan's quickest form, four sung lines sharp enough to tease, court or answer back, traded in repartee at gatherings across the country. Around it sit the lozey, ornaments of speech that run from quick spoken exchanges to long ballads recited from memory, the classical nyen ngag poetics that reached Bhutan through Tibetan translations of Sanskrit kavya, and the irreverent verse of Drukpa Kunley, the Divine Madman, that Bhutanese readers have passed along since the fifteenth century. Today the scene runs in three tongues at once: Dzongkha verse, English poems from classrooms where English is the medium of instruction, and Nepali lines written in the south, with Bhutan Echoes, Drukyul's arts and literature festival, giving all of it an annual stage.

Writory runs a monthly international poetry contest that takes every one of those traditions as it is, 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 Bhutanese work is read in exactly that company.

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

Why enter

Dzongkha, English and Nepali entries are scored under the same five criteria, so no language waits at the back of the queue.
There is no set form, which means a four line tsangmo and a page of free verse 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 higher secondary students in Thimphu and long practising poets in the same reading pile.
Bhutanese poets whose work usually travels no further than a school recitation or a festival open mic 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 Bhutanese 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 strongest poems of the month are posted to the public leaderboard at writoryofficial.com/leaderboard.

Tsangmo, lozey, nyen ngag verse, spiritual songs in the manner of gur, haiku and open free verse are all accepted, in Dzongkha, English, Nepali 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 Dzongkha and sometimes in English. Can I still enter?

Yes. Writory accepts poems in any language, so Dzongkha, English, Nepali and mixed language work are all valid entries, and you never need to supply a translation alongside them.

A tsangmo is only four lines. Can it really compete with long free verse?

Poems are not compared by length or form, they are scored on craft. Each entry is marked on creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme, and those five numbers come back to you with the result.

What will it cost me to submit from Bhutan?

Fees are charged in US dollars: $5 buys one poem, $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.

I am a student. Am I old enough to enter?

Entry is open from age 13, so higher secondary students can submit alongside adults, and every entrant receives the same certificate and the same five criterion score.

By the Writory editorial team. Updated July 2026.

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