Coverstory books’ 2022 International Poetry Competition

Coverstory books is delighted to announce its inaugural International Poetry Competition.

Deadline midnight Monday July 4th, 2022. Results announced by the end of August, 2022.

Prizes

1st Prize: £200

plus – publication in a future edition of the New Contexts anthology & invitation to read the winning poem at a future Contextual virtual poetry reading event

2nd Prize: £80

plus – publication in a future edition of the New Contexts anthology & invitation to read the winning poem at a future Contextual virtual poetry reading event

3rd Prize: £40

plus – publication in a future edition of the New Contexts anthology & invitation to read the winning poem at a future Contextual virtual poetry reading event

Three commended entries, invitation to read at a future Contextual virtual poetry reading event.

Entry fee: £5 per poem

Guidelines and rules

1. Poems must be written in English, on any subject, and must be the original work of the submitter.
2. The author must be at least 16 years old.
3. Entries may be from any country.
4. Each poem must be submitted in a separate file. Submission of more than one poem in a single file – i.e. multiple poems accompanied by only one entry fee – will disqualify all poems and the entry fee will be lost.
5. The title of the poem must be clearly visible at the top of the page.
6. There must be no means of identifying the author of the poems within the files submitted.
7. Poems must not have been published in print or online, nor have previously won a prize. If a poem is published or wins a prize elsewhere prior to the 30th June 2022, it must be withdrawn by the poet from this competition.
8. Once submitted, a poem cannot be amended.
9. Copyright remains with the author, although entry grants Coverstory books permission to publish the winning poems.
10. Poems must not exceed 60 lines (excluding title) and be typed in Times New Roman 12 point.
11. The judge will read all entries and his decision is final.

How to Enter

Entry is via Submittable.

Judge: BRIAN CLARK

Brian is an award-winning writer, editor and poet published in a wide range of literary journals, magazines and anthologies in the UK, USA, France and Italy. His successes include both The Poetry Society stanza and members competitions and he was a winner of the 2020 Guernsey International judged by England’s Poet Laureate Simon Armitage.