The inaugural International Poetry Competition run by the Cheltenham Poetry Festival offers a cash prize plus the chance to win a Guest Slot at Cheltenham Poetry Festival 2024 (either online or in Cheltenham).

The judge is the internationally acclaimed poet Joseph Fasano. All entries will be read and longlisted by the adjudicators before Joseph makes the final selection of winning and highly commended poems. The Adjudicators are Festival Founding Director Anna Saunders and Zoe Brooks – both of whom are programmers for the Festival. The adjudicators’ and judge’s decisions are final, and no correspondence can be entered into.

There is no theme – so poems can be on any subject you choose. The competition is for the best single unpublished poem in the English language of no more than 50 lines and you can submit as many poems as you wish.

Deadline for submissions 23.59 22nd October

Winners will be notified by November 20 2023 and invited to attend a winners’ celebration.

Prizes include: 1st Prize: £200; 2nd Prize: £100; 3rd Prize: £50 The First Prize Winner will also be offered a guest slot at the 2024 Cheltenham Poetry Festival. This will either be at one of our popular on-line literary lounges or in person, transport permitting.

The competition is open to all entrants all over the world.

Winning poems will be published on the Cheltenham Poetry Festival website.

We are keen to encourage quality submissions, so suggest writers to check their stories before submitting using Prowritingaid. They have free and paid versions and are the best writing software we know to help improve grammar, readability and check for repetition, ‘sticky’ sentences and suggest alternatives.