We are delighted to be running the Ironbridge poetry competition on behalf of the Ironbridge Festival once again (a little earlier in the calendar year than previously). The competition is open to poets from across the globe, and poems on any and every subject are welcome. First prize in our competition will win £300, with a second prize of £125, and three third prizes of £25 each. In addition, poems sent in by people living in a TF postcode will also be eligible for our local prize of £50.
The competition opens on Tuesday April 1st, and entries need to be in before the deadline of 6pm on May 26th. You’ll find details of how to submit, and the rules for the competition, further down the page. Please read them carefully. Poems will be read, and winners chosen, by our judge Liz Lefroy.
Our Judge
Liz Lefroy is a Shropshire poet, and founder of Shrewsbury Poetry. She was winner of the 2016 Café Writers Prize, the 2011 Roy Fisher Prize, Runner Up in the 2017 Wigtown Poetry Competition, and highly commended in the Bridport Prize 2015 and Aurora Poetry Competition 2017.
Liz has published four poetry pamphlets, most recently GREAT MASTER / small boy (2021), which explores motherhood and music through a journey across her son’s childhood, and Europe, in search of Beethoven. She read in June 2016 as a guest on Carol Ann Duffy’s Shore to Shore tour in support of independent booksellers, is editor of Festival in a Book – A Celebration of Wenlock Poetry Festival (2023), and is a member of the Writing West Midlands Room 204 scheme.
A note from Liz on judging the Ironbridge poetry competition
I will be on the look out for poems which hold an emotional weight which draw me in, and a depth of insight that sustains that response over several readings. As a lover of music, I’ll also be listening out for melody, cadence, and rhythm – all of which have the ability to bring the poet’s unique voice into the foreground.
Rules
- The competition opens on Tuesday April 1st, 2025, and the closing date for receipt of entries is 6pm on May 26th, 2025. Entries received after this time will not be considered.
- The fee to enter is £4. If multiple poems are entered in the same submission, £10 will be charged for three poems and then £3 for each subsequent poem in that submission. Maximum number of poems in a single submission is five. Payment is by Paypal (see button below, which will take you to [email protected])
- Poems from a TF postcode will additionally be entered for consideration in the TF prize.
- Entries to the competition must be made by email to [email protected] In the body of the email, put your name, address, number of poems entered, and your Paypal reference no.
- Each poem must be sent as a separate .doc .docx or .pdf file attached to your email, with the poem title as the document name. Do not put your name or any identifying marks on the poems – they are judged anonymously.
- Poems must be your own unaided work, and on any theme.
- Poems must be in English, and no more than 35 lines long. Text only, please – no images.
- Poems must not have been previously published in any public forum (either in print or on a website), nor should they be currently submitted for future publication elsewhere.
- We can’t amend poems after they’ve been submitted, or refund fees paid.
- The competition is open to anyone aged sixteen and over (with the exception of members of the core team of Ironbridge Festival of the Imagination).
- Winners and shortlisted poets will be contacted a few days in advance of results being announced on Monday 30th June 2025. If you do not hear from us before June 30th, please understand that your poem has not been placed on this occasion. The winning poets may be invited to read their poems at Ironbridge Festival of the Imagination at an event which is currently being finalised (more details soon).
- Copyright of the poems remains with the author, but Ironbridge Festival of the Imagination reserves the right to publish successful entries.
- Good luck!!