Poetry Contest Egypt 2026: Fusha & Ammiyya
Quick answer: Monthly poetry contest for Egyptian poets. Write in fusha, Egyptian ammiyya or English. Cash prizes, certificates and a scored report on every poem.
Egyptian poetry has spent a century running on two tracks, and both still carry passengers. On the fusha side stands Ahmed Shawqi, crowned Amir al-Shu'ara in Cairo in 1927, and Hafez Ibrahim, the Poet of the Nile, whose qasidas Egyptian schoolchildren still memorise. On the 'ammiyya side, Salah Jahin's Ruba'iyat and the verse of Fouad Haddad and Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi proved that colloquial Egyptian could hold a poem as firmly as the classical line. The living scene stretches from poetry nights at El Sawy Culturewheel in Zamalek to readings at the Cairo International Book Fair and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Writory runs a monthly international poetry contest that takes both tracks as they are, 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 saved to the poet's profile. Poets from more than 50 countries have entered Writory, and Egyptian work is read in exactly that company.
Writory holds a monthly international poetry contest that Egyptian poets can enter in fusha, Egyptian 'ammiyya, English or any other language, with cash prizes for winners and a certificate for everyone who submits.
Why enter
- Fusha, 'ammiyya and English entries reach the same judges under the same five criteria, so the old argument about which Arabic counts stops at the door.
- There is no set form, which means a qasida holding one rhyme for forty lines and a page of qasidat al-nathr 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 thanawiyya students and long practising poets in the same reading pile.
- Egyptian poets used to a local musabaqat shi'r with one deadline a year get a monthly route to an international readership instead.
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 Egyptian 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 ten poets appear on the public leaderboard at writoryofficial.com/leaderboard.
Qasida, zajal, mawwal, ruba'iyat, qasidat al-nathr, haiku and open free verse are all accepted, in fusha, Egyptian 'ammiyya, 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 Egyptian 'ammiyya, not fusha. Will that count against me?
No. Writory accepts poems in any language, and colloquial Egyptian is a language of poetry here the same way it was for Salah Jahin. Fusha, 'ammiyya, English and mixed work are all valid entries, and you never need to supply a translation.
How can judges compare an Arabic 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 land in your Writory profile where you can read them yourself.
What will it cost me to submit from Egypt?
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.
Does my poem need to follow classical metre, the buhur?
No. Metred verse is welcome and so is everything that came after it, from taf'ila free verse to the prose poem. There is no set form and no line limit tied to a form.
By the Writory editorial team. Updated July 2026.
Enter the August contest · International poetry contest · Past winners · Read the winning poems