Poetry Contest Fiji 2026, Serekali & Kavita

Quick answer: Monthly poetry contest for poets in Fiji. Write in English, iTaukei or Fiji Hindi, win cash prizes, earn certificates and a five-part score on every poem.

A poem is a serekali in iTaukei and a kavita in Fiji Hindi, but Fiji's oldest verse was the vucu, chanted inside the meke and composed by a daunivucu who was revered the way the bete, the priests, were. The written page arrived in three languages at once: Pio Manoa publishing in English and Fijian from the late 1960s, Sudesh Mishra folding Hindi and Fijian words into collections like Tandava, and Fiji Hindi verse keeping alive the songs the girmitiyas carried across the ocean. Suva sat at the centre of it, where the University of the South Pacific and the journal Mana first gave Pacific poets a shared home.

Writory runs a monthly international poetry contest that takes all three of those streams exactly 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 work from Fiji is read in exactly that company.

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

Why enter

iTaukei, Fiji Hindi and English entries reach the same judges under the same five criteria, so no language waits at the back of the queue.
There is no set form, so a serekali that keeps the rhythm of a chant and a long English free verse piece 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 Suva and Nadi in the same reading pile as long practising poets.
Submission is online from anywhere in the islands, so entering from Labasa or Levuka asks no more of you than entering from the capital.

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 entrant from Fiji, 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 leading poems are posted to the public leaderboard at writoryofficial.com/leaderboard.

Serekali, kavita, vucu-style chant, ghazal, haiku and open free verse are all accepted, in iTaukei, Fiji Hindi, 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 Fiji Hindi and my cousin writes in iTaukei. Can we both enter?

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

How can judges score a chant-shaped serekali against an English free verse poem?

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 does it cost to enter from Fiji?

Fees are charged in US dollars rather than Fijian 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.

I am still in secondary school. Am I old enough to enter?

Entry is open from age 13, so school poets in Fiji enter the same contest as adults and are scored under the same five criteria.

How long between sending a poem and hearing back?

Submission runs from the 1st to the 25th and results are published 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