Poetry Competition 2023

Entries to our 2023 Poetry Competition are now open. Responding to the theme of ‘beginning’, we are inviting poems of any style, up to a maximum of 35 lines (excluding the title).

Total prize money of $500 will be awarded as follows:

1st prize: $250

2nd prize: $100

3rd prize: $50

Commended: 5 awards of $20

Opening date: February 6, 2023

Closing date: May 1, 2023

Winners announced: June 3, 2023

How to enter

Good luck and count your lines – 35 (excluding title) is absolute maximum.

All entries must be submitted via email to community@kyoglewritersfestival.com
Entries must be in two separate documents formatted in Times New Roman, 12pt font, 1.5 line spacing.
The first document will be a cover page that provides your name, address, phone number, email address and title of poem.
The second document will be the entry – your poem with its title. A maximum of 35 lines excluding the title. It must NOT include your name.
The cover page and the poem must be sent as two separate documents in either Word or PDF files.
Be sure to address the theme ‘beginning’.
A $5 entry fee is required. Multiple entries are accepted with a $5 fee for each entry. The total of these fees will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. The entry fee must be paid to the Kyogle Readers and Writers account. See below for account details.
Members of Kyogle Readers and Writers committee are ineligible to enter the competition.
Entries must be the original work of the entrant and must not have been published previously.
Late entries will not be accepted.
The author retains ownership of their work, but grants Kyogle Readers and Writers permission to use the work in promotion.
Entries will be judged on merit by an independent panel of three poets from the local region. Decisions of the judging panel will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

2022 Winners

First Prize

Angela Szczotko for Dirty Red
Read here

Second Prize

Kathryn Goldie for Tide, 2022
Read here

Third Prize

Ana Davis for Black Swans
Read here

Highly Commended

Jasmyne Marahuyo for Christmas Ritual
Peter Matthews for Lockdown
Emily Coleman for Cerebral Cage
Fran Graham for Personal Best
Ella Stathis for Xenos