From romance to rhetoric and from sonnets to satire: the Canterbury festival poet of the year competition 2018 is launched

The Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year Competition 2018 is now open for entries.

This is the 12th year of the Competition which has grown into an internationally respected event and forms a major part of the Festival year. In 2016 there were a total of 391 entries from all over the world and in 2017 there were 311 poems submitted.  

Each year around 35 poems are longlisted from the entries received and these are published in an anthology; copies are available from the Festival Office for £5 each. Poets included in the booklet receive a free copy. 

A shortlist of poems is then selected and from these the winners are chosen.  All the shortlisted poets will be invited to read their work at the Awards Evening on 4 October 2018 in the Gulbenkian Theatre, University of Kent, from 7.30 pm.

The Competition is generously sponsored by the School of English at the University who donate the University of Kent Prize of £200 for the winner, £100 for second and £50 for third places, £25 for the People’s Choice, and the Best-Read Poem receives a bottle of sparkling wine courtesy of the Wine Room, Tankerton.  

So, send in your poems of all types, long, short, tragic, funny, whatever you are moved to write; you may find yourself crowned the Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year 2018 and £200 richer.

The Competition deadline is Monday 18 June 2018.  The fee for entry is £5 per poem and please don’t forget to attach an entry form which can be downloaded from the Festival website www.canterburyfestival.co.uk along with the Terms and Conditions. For further information contact Tina at the Festival Office 01227 452853.