SWC Annual International Poetry Competition 2021

Online entries CLICK HERE

First Prize: £150, Second Prize: £75, Third Prize: £25

Catherine Fenerty Humour Prize: £25

Final date for entries – 30th April 2021

Chief Judge : Ali Harwood 

Ali Harwood is an artist, poet, writer and teacher. Born in Wiltshire, Ali grew up around Bristol and has lived in Liverpool since 2007. As a poet, Ali’s work is published widely, including Made of Iron (2019), The Quality of Mersey (2018) and the Live From Worktown Anthology (2014). He is organiser and compere of the Liver Bards monthly poetry event and has performed poetry at many locations, including the Museum of Liverpool, the Mersey River Festival and the Ancient Chapel of Toxteth. His poetic picture book ‘Liverpool Liver Birds’ (2019) remains popular. He is currently Artist in Residence at Love Wavertree – where he has created a large outdoor mural – and has recently enjoyed illustration and painting commissions from the British Antarctic Survey and Cammell Laird respectively. As a former deputy headteacher, he continues to enjoy tutoring young people aged 5-16 and delivers educational and creative assemblies and workshops in schools.       

  RULES: Please read carefully

  • Entry fee is £3 per poem or four poems for £10 (online rate varies due to handling fees). For postal entries Cheques/Postal orders should be in sterling and payable to: SOUTHPORT WRITERS’ CIRCLE.
  • A maximum of 40 lines per poem is allowed.
  • Poems should bear no identification of the poet.
  • Humour entries should be marked with an ‘H’ in the top left of the page. Humour entrants are not disqualified from also winning main prizes.
  • Please enclose a separate sheet with your full contact details (address, email, phone number) and list of titles submitted. For online entries, this contact information should be put in the body of the email.
  • All entries must be typed (on A4 paper for postal entries) in English (dialects allowable), and must be the original, unpublished work of the entrant.
  • If your work is published in any form after entry, please let us know. In some cases this may disqualify your entry and entitle you to a refund of your entry fee.
  • For online entries, please include PayPal ref. number in body of email OR put the poem(s) names in the comments (information) box when paying. Also please use basic formatting in any of .doc, .docx, rich text (.rtf) or .odf file types when attaching your file to the email. Any .pdfs, sidebars, headers, footers or unusual layouts may result in your electronic entry being rejected without notice. Please, do not paste your entries in the body of the email.
  • The closing date for entries will be 30th April 2021. Winners will be informed in June, general availability of results thereafter. There may be a delay publishing results and/or winning poems depending on circumstances and permissions.
  • Any correspondence deemed to be an attempt to circumvent the judging process may cause your entry to be withdrawn.
  • Please keep a copy of your poem(s) as manuscripts cannot be returned.
  • The organiser’s/adjudicator’s decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding receipt of individual entries or payments. Please do not contact us regarding bounced payments unless you are certain Paypal is not functional.
  • If you would like a copy of adjudicator’s report (if and when available), please include an SAE for paper entries, or for online entries please state you wish to have the results in the body of the email.
  • No application form is required.

Envelopes should be sent to:-

SWC Poetry Competition

5 Carrwood Park

Southport,

Merseyside,

PR8 5FA

  • Please DO NOT send entries by signed-for delivery or send any other material such as return/receipt postcards as these will be disregarded/destroyed.

Online entries CLICK HERE

Southport Writers' Circle