Open Poetry Competition 2025
Slipstream Poets invite entries to their Open Poetry Competition 2025, closing date of 31st May2025.
Prizes
- 1st Place £300
- 2nd Place £150
- 3rd Place £75
- Best West Sussex Entry £50
Winners will be notified by 30th June 2025 and all results and the prize winning poems will be published on the Slipstream website
Adjudicator
Barry Smith
Barry Smith is a both a poet and an arts festival producer, currently Director of the South Downs Poetry Festival. Barry edits Poetry & All That Jazz, curates the poetry for Blakefest and is Patron of the Shelley Memorial Project.
His collection, Performance Rites (Waterloo Press, 2021) was joined by Reeling and Writhing (Dempsey and Windle, 2023). His poetry has been widely published and shortlisted for the BBC Proms Poetry, the Culture Matters Bread & Roses awards and nominated for the T.S. Eliot Prize.
‘His poetry is mysterious, rich in imagery, narrative and feeling’ (Louis de Bernieres).
Rules
• Poems must not have previously won a prize in any competition, been accepted for publication or have been published, either online or in print
• The 4 winning poems will be published in full on the Slipstream website
• The copyright of all poems remains with the author
• Entry Fees: £5.00 for the initial poem and £4.00 for each additional one
• Each poem must be typed in Arial 12 on a single side of A4 and not exceed 40 lines
• Poems must not carry any means of identifying the author
• Entries may be made by post enclosing a cheque, or online by debit or credit card
• Postal entries – 2 copies please
• Please use the correct postage for the size and weight of your work and no recorded mail (it’s an 11 mile round trip to the sorting office)
• Online entries – go to www.slipstream-poets.co.uk – please submit multiple poems in a single document with page breaks (not line spaces) inserted between poems
• Entry forms and poems to the Competition Secretary by 30th May 2025 please
• Entry fees and Prize Money to be paid in pounds sterling
• Winners will be notified by end of June and the results will be on our website
• No correspondence entered into
Additional Prize for West Sussex entrants
West Sussex entrants will be further judged and the best poem by a West Sussex writer will be awarded The Jim Johnston ‘Chanctonbury Cup’ and a separate prize of £50.00. The Winners and commended poets will be invited to read their poems at a Presentation event in September.