P – The 2023 Winchester Poetry Prize

Entry fee: £6 for first poem, £5 for subsequent poems

The longlist will be announced in mid September and we will announce the winners live at Winchester Poetry Festival on Sunday 15 October 2023. 

Winning and commended poems will be published in a competition anthology that will be available on the day.

First Prize: £1,000

2nd Prize: £500 

3rd Prize: £250

RULES  ​

• Opening date: midday on 3 April 2023. Entries received before this time will not be considered

• Closing date: midnight on 31 July 2023. Entries received after this time will not be considered.

• The competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over.

• Entries may be submitted via email or by post.

• Poems may be on any subject and in any form or style.

• They must be typed and not longer than 40 lines (excluding title).

• Poems must be in English, must be the entrant’s own work. They may not be the translated work of another poet.

• Poems must not have been published or accepted for publication elsewhere (including online).

• Poems must not have been submitted for or won any other poetry competition at the time of submission. Poems may be submitted for other competitions after the closing date, but entrants must withdraw their poems from the Winchester Poetry Festival in the event of being shortlisted for any other prize. 

• Entry fee: £6 for first poem, £5 for subsequent poems in a single submission.

• A number of free entries are available for poets to whom an entry fee would be a barrier. Online entrants can select the option to subsidise fees for other poets under the ‘Pay It Forward’ scheme.

• Do not put your name or any other form of identification on your poem. All poems are judged anonymously.

• Our judge will read all qualifying entries.

• No person may win more than one cash prize, though more than one poem may feature in the list of Commended and Highly Commended poems.

• No changes may be made to a poem once it has been submitted.

• The decision of the judge is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

• Winchester Poetry Festival Trustees, employees or associates, or members of their families, may not enter.

• We will contact the longlisted poets by email or post in mid September 2023. The result will be announced live as part of the Winchester Poetry Festival, on Sunday 15 October 2023.

• Travel expenses to read at the prize-giving in Winchester are not covered.

• Your entry in the competition indicates acceptance of these rules.