Deadline: 31-Jul-23
Applicants are now being invited to submit applications for the 2023 Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, an opportunity for any young person aged 11-17 to accelerate their writing career.
Prize Details
- Winners receive amazing prizes including membership of The Poetry Society and a stack of poetry goodies. Winners also get the chance to receive mentoring and develop their creative writing skills alongside fellow poets, or benefit from poetry residencies at their school or online writing workshops.
- Each year they select 100 winners (top 15 winners and 85 commended poets) of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award who win amazing prizes.
- The Prizes
- All 100 winners will be invited to a prestigious awards ceremony in London. If Covid-19 restrictions prevent this, an online alternative will be organised.
- The top 15 winners will have their poems printed in the winners’ print anthology, 25,000 copies of which are distributed to schools, libraries and poetry enthusiasts. The anthology is also available online.
- The 85 commended poets will have their work published in an online anthology and their names in the print anthology.
- The top 15 winners will be invited to attend a life-changing residential writing course at one of the prestigious Arvon Centres, or receive alternative sustained mentoring from a professional poet.
- All 100 winners receive a year’s Youth Membership of The Poetry Society.
- All 100 winners will receive a goody bag full of books and other treats donated by the generous supporters.
Eligibility Criteria
- You must be aged 11-17 on the closing date of the 31st July 2023 in order to enter.
- Individuals may enter more than one poem. However, they strongly advise that you concentrate on drafting and redrafting your poems and send only a selection of your very best. Remember, quality is more important than quantity.
- The competition is free to enter and poems can be of any length and on any theme.
- Your work is accepted on the basis that this will be its first publication anywhere in the world. This includes:
- anthologies, magazines, solo collections, school prints, school newsletters;
- online, including blogs and online magazines;
- social media such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram;
- poems cannot have been broadcast on any regional, national or online TV station or via any radio platform.
- Poems cannot have won any other competition.
- Poems must be the original work of the author (they do run checks for plagiarism on all selected poems).
- Poems must be written in English, but you can include phrases in your mother tongue or another language.
- Entries will be accepted from anywhere in the world. (Please note that they are unable to cover international travel fees for winners to attend the award ceremony.)
Details
- All 100 winning poets (top 15 and 85 commended) will be notified in September 2023 and invited to an award ceremony in October 2023 (date TBC). All winners will be required to provide a biography, photograph, permission form and proof of age.
- Authors of the winning poems will grant The Poetry Society irrevocable, non-exclusive licence to republish the work in perpetuity, including (but not limited to):
- Publishing the work online, including The Poetry Society website. The Poetry Society will notify the writer if a third party requests permission to use their work in any way;
- Production of reprints;
- Publication (in print or online) of the work as part of an anthology or as an educational resource.
For more information, visit Foyle Foundation.