The Poetry Kit

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2 - SPECIAL EVENTS

There is a full listing of regularly held events and festivals from around the world at the Poetry kit website.- www.poetrykit.org

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Regular Open Mic Events in the UK

Manchester

21st February 2020

Manchester Poets

Friday 21 February 2020

7.45 to 9:30 [doors open 7.30]

Chorlton Library Manchester Rd, Chorlton M21 9PN
• floor poets • All welcome £3 / £1
Guest poet: Peter Street with his new book Earth Talk (Caparison)
Caparison is pleased to announce the publication of Earth Talk by Peter Street, a timely collection of highly idiosyncratic eco-poetry...
In the age of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion, Peter Street once more takes his place as veritable poet of the trees and flowers, giving them radical voice at this time of climate emergency. Melting ice-caps merge with the iceberg sensibility of Hemingway in Street’s economical style, a strange meeting of ee cummings, W.H. Davies and Edward Lear. In these humorous, polemical and imaginative poems we are privy to jingoistic exchanges in a Parliament of Flowers, and the covert operations of plotting beetles. Street’s gift for personifying flora and insecta is no mere accident, it’s cultivated from an arborist’s sensibility, and beneath its whimsical surface is something deeply empathic, polemical and subversive. In Earth Talk the earth fights back against the aggregate damage done to it by the human animal, and Street gives us unique insight into the bud and bug agitators of his native Wigan...

Chiswick

25th February 2020

Tue 25 Feb 2020, 7.30 pm: A Whole Day�s Dreaming: Yeats, the Thames, and Poetry

Host: Chiswick Pier Trust
Lecture by: Cahal Dallat with Yeats readings by Anne-Marie Fyfe

The Thames has long had a magnetic attraction for writers and artists but for Nobel-Prize-winning poet WB Yeats, growing up in nearby Bedford Park, the riverbanks between Chiswick Pier & Hammersmith were a vital resource: both a place to meet influential and inspirational people, and the source of one of the world�s best-loved poems of longing, The Lake Isle of Innisfree.

http://www.wbyeatsbedfordpark.com/

Shropshire

9th-14th March 2020

Creative Writing Retreat, Walcot Hall Shropshire. 9-14 March, 2020. Guest reader: Carol Ann Duffy. Everyone welcome.

Full details are available here:

www.inkwellwriters.co.uk

Prizes

FIRST PRIZE: £1,000, plus five years subscription to Acumen
SECOND PRIZE: £400, plus three years subscription to Acumen
THIRD PRIZE: £200, plus two years subscription to Acumen
SPECIAL PRIZE for best current subscriber’s entry: £100

Additionally six highly-commended poets will receive £25 plus a subscription to Acumen and ten commended poets will receive a year’s subscription to Acumen.

£5.00 per poem or 5 poems for £20.
Current subscribers can enter one extra poem free (including those subscribing with the entry).

Closing Date: Saturday 28th February 2020

15th February 2020	1st publication entry £10	Cheltenham Poetry Festival First Pamphlet Competition An international competition for poets not yet published in book form. Each entrant can submit up to 10 poems which the judges consider as forming the heart of the poet's first pamphlet. The 2020 competition offers two prizes of publication of a 32-page pamphlet for poets who have not previously had a poetry collection published. Each winner will receive 50 free copies of their pamphlet, marketing support, plus a headline poet reading at the Cheltenham Festival. The two winning pamphlets will be published by Frosted Fire, the publishing arm of the festival. Every entry will be read anonymously. Judges are Angela France, David Clarke, and 2019 Frosted Fire Firsts competition winner Janet Lees. See https://frostedfirefirsts.blog/frosted-fire-firsts-entries/
17th February 2020	1st Publication entry £25	The Straid Collection Awards 2020 The Straid Collection Award is a publishing award which leads to the publication of up to two new Straid Collections by Templar Poetry following each submission window. The award was founded in 2011. The Straid Collection Award is open for consideration of submissions of complete manuscripts of full collections of poetry written in English. There are two Straid Collection Awards available which include publication of the collections, author support and promotion following publication by Templar Poetry. Straid Award winning poet or poets will be offered the standard Templar Poetry Publishing Agreement. Straid Award poets will be offered launch readings. Printed or digital manuscripts will be considered.
28th February 2020	1st £1000 entry £5	Acumen International Poetry Competition Prizes FIRST PRIZE: £1,000, plus five years subscription to Acumen SECOND PRIZE: £400, plus three years subscription to Acumen THIRD PRIZE: £200, plus two years subscription to Acumen SPECIAL PRIZE for best current subscriber’s entry: £100 Additionally six highly-commended poets will receive £25 plus a subscription to Acumen and ten commended poets will receive a year’s subscription to Acumen. £5.00 per poem or 5 poems for £20. Current subscribers can enter one extra poem free (including those subscribing with the entry). Closing Date: Saturday 28th February 2020 See https://www.acumen-poetry.co.uk/international-poetry-competition/
29th February 2020	1st pamphlet 1st single poem £75 entry £5 - £20	The Brian Dempsey Memorial Competition 2020 Adjudicator: Paul McGrane will select winners from the shortlist provided by Janice and Dónall Dempsey. 2020 RULES AND PRIZES The Pamphlet Prize – for entries of 10 poems The winner of this prize will be offered publication of a 36 page pamphlet of their poems including 20 copies, and £100 cash. The single poem category – Entries of 1 to 9 poems First prize: £75 Second prize: £50 Third prize: £25 All shortlisted poets will receive a copy of the competition anthology. Entries by email only, fees paid via Paypal from the competition site. See https://www.dempseyandwindle.com/competition.html
29th February 2020	1st Camera entry free	World Children's Haiku Contest 2019-2020 With the Japan Rugby World Cup and Tokyo Olympics, 2019-2020 is an important period for Japan and sport. So, you may be inspired to do more physical activity: do you like team or individual sports? Dancing in your bedroom? Or simply walking outdoors in nature? This year the Japan Society are looking for haiku that express the feeling as you score a goal or lose a game, jump up high or tumble on the ground, run through grass or conquer a mountain! Any theme that is connected to 'Sports' is eligible for this competition. First Prize for 3 students: Canon digital camera. Other prizes will also be awarded. The first Haiku Contest was organised by the JAL Foundation in 1990 and one has been held every two years since then. Japan Airlines, with support and assistance from the Japan Society, is pleased to announce the 2019-2020 Contest. See https://www.japansociety.org.uk/47079/haiku-contest-2019-2020/
29th February 2020	1st £200 entry £3	Wild Poem Competition from Cheltenham Poetry Festival Entries should be inspired by April 2020 Cheltenham Poetry Festival theme – wild! Your poem(s) on the theme can be as unruly and untamed as you like, whether in content or poetic form. The only restriction is that the poem must be no more than 70 lines. Online entries only. All will be judged anonymously by Guest Judge Ben Ray and Festival Founding Director Anna Saunders. First prize £200, second £75 and third £25. Sponsored by Badlands Records, The Suffolk Anthology, and Frosted Fire. See https://frostedfirefirsts.blog/wild-poem-competition/
28th February 2020	1st $100 entry $	2020 ART COUTURE Ekphrastic Poetry Contest! The contest is made possible in collaboration with the Cornell Art Museum at Old School Square in Delray Beach. The ART COUTURE Exhibition explores the complex influences and effects of fashion and design in works of contemporary art. Poets may submit a single original poem up to 30 lines inspired by one of eight selected images: Athena Shoe /Pall Mall/ McQueen by Rick Lazes; Marilyn En Bleu by Sylvester Gauvrit; Pink Suit by Timo Weiland; Adhesif by Caroline Dechamby (see image above); Dorian Gray by Sonya Sanchez Arias; Expensive Taste by Becky Rosa; Meghan by Rick Lazes; and Air Jordan, Study 2 by Stephen Wilson. All of these images can be found by clicking on the following link: https://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/news/art-couture-poetry-contest/. The winning poet will receive a $100 prize, and $25 will be awarded to each of four runners-up. Five Honorable Mention poems will be selected. Entries that win cash prizes will be published in South Florida Poetry Journal, May 2020. Prize-winning poems, along with those receiving honorable mention, will be published online and announced in press releases. Ekphrastic Poems may include literal descriptions of a work of art, the poet´s mood in response to a work of art, metaphorical associations inspired by a work of art, or personal memories about a work of art. Deadline to submit is February 28, 2020, using Submittable.
29th February 2020	1st Publication entry £25	Hedgehog Press White Label First Collection Pamphlet Competition This is the 4th in the series of White Label Collection Competitions, searching for 3 poets who will see their first collection published in pamphlet form by the Hedgehog Poetry Press. White Label collections are a series that intend to provide a home to poets for their first collections. There is no age limit or profile for these. Additionally, there are no restrictions if you have previously self-published a collection, you are still invited to enter. So whether you are 17 or 70, have just come to poetry or are returning to it after living a life, your entries are wanted! Each winner will be published by The Hedgehog Poetry Press and receive 100 copies of their collection. The competition will be judged by Mark Davidson, Editor of The Hedgehog Poetry Press. See https://www.hedgehogpress.co.uk/product/white-label-collection-quatre-first-collection-pamphlet-competition-deadline-29th-february-2020/
29th February 2020	1st Publication entry £17	Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2020 The Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2020 is now open for submissions. Two winners will have a 52-page poetry collection published by Indigo Dreams Publishing and receive 20 copies. https://www.indigodreams.co.uk/geoff-stevens/4594095381
2nd March 2020	1st £1000 entry £7	Artlyst Art to Poetry Award Artlyst, in association with The Poetry Society, is pleased to launch a new international award for poetry based on works of art. From ancient times poets have been inspired by art. Ekphrastic poetry has given us some of the most celebrated poems in the English language from Keats’ ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, to WH Auden’s ‘Musée des Beaux-Arts’, based on Brueghel’s famous painting of Icarus falling from the sky. In each case, what has been created is not a mere description but a fresh insight, a new world, an autonomous work of art. The Artlyst Art to Poetry Award celebrating ekphrastic poetry is open to all poets worldwide aged 18 or over. Entrants may submit as many poems as they wish so long as they are based on an artwork. This can be in the form of a painting, sculpture installation, video, or fine art photograph. The competition’s judging panel will include poet, novelist, and art critic Sue Hubbard, and judges from Artlyst and The Poetry Society. There are awards of £1,000, £300 and three runners-up prizes of £50. All winners will be invited to an awards ceremony at a London art gallery and be published on Artlyst and The Poetry Society websites. See https://www.artlyst.com/features/artlyst-art-poetry-competition/
7th March 2020	1st £500 entry £3	Enfield Poets’ Competition adjudicator Ruth Padel. Prize giving will be in the Dugdale theatre, Enfield on Saturday 25^th April at 7.30. First Prize £500, second £250, third £100. Winners and runners up will be able to read their poem. Winning poems to be published on the Enfield Poets’ website. For further details, rules and how to enter go to https://enfieldpoets.com/poetry-competition/

Tue 25 Feb 2020, 7.30 pm: A Whole Day�s Dreaming: Yeats, the Thames, and Poetry

Cheltenham Poetry Festival First Pamphlet Competition

The Straid Collection Awards 2020

Acumen International Poetry Competition

Prizes

The Brian Dempsey Memorial Competition 2020

World Children's Haiku Contest 2019-2020

Wild Poem Competition from Cheltenham Poetry Festival

Hedgehog Press White Label First Collection Pamphlet Competition

Geoff Stevens Memorial Poetry Prize 2020

Artlyst Art to Poetry Award

Dial-a-Poem