Poetry Contest Slovenia 2026, Sonet & Kons

Quick answer: Monthly poetry contest for Slovenian poets. Enter in Slovene or English, win cash prizes, and see Slovenian poems already placing in the top ten.

Slovenia made a poet its national symbol. France Prešeren's Zdravljica gave the anthem its words, his death day on 8 February is a public holiday, and his Sonetni venec, fourteen sonnets chained last line to first with a fifteenth woven from their opening lines, still sets the bar for formal verse in slovenščina. The tradition runs on through Srečko Kosovel's Karst konsi, the school anthologies built around Tone Pavček and Kajetan Kovič, and a living scene that reads in Ljubljana, a UNESCO City of Literature, and gathers every August in Ptuj for Dnevi poezije in vina.

Writory runs a monthly international poetry contest where Slovene needs no translation at any stage, and Slovenian work is already on the board: Sonja Koranter has placed in the Writory top ten in three consecutive months of 2026, which anyone can check at writoryofficial.com/leaderboard. 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 is scored across five criteria: creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme. Poets from more than 50 countries have entered Writory, and Slovenian poems are read in exactly that company.

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

Why enter

Slovene and English entries reach the same judges under the same five criteria, and it works in practice: Sonja Koranter's Visoke Njive I, Veter Vzhoda in Zahoda placed 9th in June 2026 written entirely in Slovenian.
There is no set form, so a strict sonet in the Prešeren line and a spare kons in Kosovel's 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 srednja šola writers and long practising poets in the same reading pile.
Poets who normally only see a local literarni natečaj get a monthly route to an international readership, with more than 50 countries already represented.

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 Slovenian 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 ten strongest poems of the month are posted to the public leaderboard at writoryofficial.com/leaderboard, where Sonja Koranter has appeared in three consecutive months of 2026.

Sonnets and full sonetni venci, konsi in the Kosovel line, haiku, rhymed pesmi and open free verse are all accepted, in Slovene, 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

Can I submit a poem written in Slovene?

Yes, and Slovene already places. Sonja Koranter's Visoke Njive I, Veter Vzhoda in Zahoda, a poem in Slovenian, took 9th in June 2026, after her 6th in April with PROPHECY and her 4th and 7th in May with MY WORLD and TREE OF WISHES. No translation is required at any stage.

How can judges score a sonet against English free verse fairly?

They do not compare forms, they score craft. Each poem is marked on creativity, emotion, structure, language and theme, so a strict sonet and open free verse are each measured against their own ambitions rather than against each other.

What will it cost me to enter from Slovenia?

Fees are charged in US dollars rather than euros: $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 srednja šola. Am I old enough to enter?

Yes. Entry is open from age 13, so secondary school poets submit alongside adults and are read by the same judges under the same five criteria.

How long is the wait between submitting and finding out?

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