Poetry Competition Conditions of Entry

Entries

• For Over 18s only. All poets to be West Country Residents (defined as Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall and Avon).
• A poem on any theme and in any style, maximum 40 lines (plus title and any epigraphs).
• Entry; £4 for first poem, £2 for subsequent poems.
• Entries to be accompanied by a cover sheet/entry form which includes titles of entered poems (so that names are not on the poems).
• Entries by email (festival@wordsinwatchet.com) or by post (14a Wedlakes Watchet TA23 0JL) by midnight on Sunday 17th January 2027.
• Winning poets will be notified by Mon 8 th February 2027
• Prizes; 1st £75; 2nd £50; 3rd £25. The judges may also Commend poems at their discretion. There will be a small prize for the highest rated poem by a poet residing in Watchet.
• Winning and selected poets will be asked to read at our Spoken Word event on Saturday 20th February 2027. For Cover sheets and payment of fees, please see below (or enclose a cheque made out to Words in Watchet with posted entries). Absolutely no AI generated content is to be permitted (ChatGPT etc.). If we deem poems were not written by a human they will be excluded, and the author banned from entering all further competitions with us.

Many thanks go to our Words in Watchet Poetry Competition judges who this year are Chrissy Banks and Matt Bryden. See notes below from Chrissy about How To Write a Winning Poem.

Notes from Chrissy Banks about writing for a Poetry Competition

The first thing I often do when I decide to enter a Poetry Competition is to check out the work of the poet judging it, if I’m not already familiar with their poems. I look at their favourite themes, their style, their attitudes and concerns and try to decide whether they might like what I write or not.

Guess what? As a strategy for winning competitions, it doesn’t work! Not that studying any reputable body of poems is a waste of time when it comes to honing your own craft. Far from it. But we are not AIs, thank goodness. Not mechanical, not predictable. A poetry judge is just as likely to choose a poem they would never have written themselves as one that’s a match for their own work. That is, if the chosen poem is printed with a view to how it looks on the page, if it’s fresh, original, deeply felt or producing some resonating note, idea or process of exploration that allows it to have an effect on the reader.

In such a poem, form and content work together to touch, connect with and maybe even change, the reader’s own thoughts and feelings. That is not to say ideas and emotions are all spelt out or expressed in cliches, opinionated statements or heavily underlined feeling. A poem can raise a question and may not answer it. It can stay detached when appropriate. Suggestion can be powerful too, as long as it isn’t merely leading the reader into a mire of confusion. But readers are often smarter than we may think.

So, enjoy your writing, and remember your first draft is often just the start of the best poem you have ever written. Give it time and attention before you declare it finished. And then send it off with hope, not forgetting that if you don’t win, it doesn’t mean your poem’s no good. Maybe it needs another edit. Or another judge. Over to you.

Chrissy