Applications are open for Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition 2021. Ledbury Poetry Festival 2021 Poetry Competition has a great first prize of £1000 cash. The competition has been an important first step in many poets’ careers and has categories for Adults, Young People and Children. In addition to cash prizes, winners of all categories are invited to read their poems at the internationally renowned Ledbury Poetry Festival 2022.

Prize Categories

Ledbury Poetry Festival Poetry Competition has three categories

Adult(18 years or older)

• First Prize: £1000 cash
• Second Prize: £500
• Third Prize: £250

Young Person(12 to 17 years old)

• Young People winners receive smaller cash prizes,

Child(under 12 years old)

• Child winners receive book tokens.

In addition to that, all winners will receive an invitation to read at the 2022 Poetry Festival.

Competition Rules

• Poems must be received on or before Thursday 15th July 2021 at 5 pm British Summer Time.
• All poems must be the original work of the entrant and should not have been previously published, accepted for publication by a magazine, nor entered in other competitions.
• Moreover, the length of each poem must not exceed 40 lines.
• Each individual poem, regardless of length, must be typed on one sheet of plain A4 paper (except the Children’s category, which can be handwritten).
• Applicants must submit two copies of each poem – unless you enter online. If entering online, each poem must be on a separate page in your document.
• The competitor’s name must NOT appear on the poem.
• Also, all poems must be accompanied by a fully completed entry form.
• Please keep a copy of your poem, as manuscripts cannot be returned.
• The decision of the judge is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
• The Festival reserves the right to withhold prizes if such an action is justified.
• Furthermore, entries not complying with competition rules will be disqualified.

Transcripts of LPF poetry workshops packed with warm-up writing exercises and prompts

Resource page for Young Writers