The Hampshire Young Poets competition 2023 is officially open!
The theme this year is 'home' and Winchester Poetry Festival and Hampshire Cultural Trust are inviting aspiring young poets to submit a poem of no more than 14 lines exploring what 'home' means to them!
Entries will be judged by Hampshire Poet Nazneen Ahmed Pathak, and the winners will join us for a special ceremony at The Arc, Winchester as part of Winchester Poetry Festival weekend in October.
Nazneen Ahmed Pathak (Hampshire Poet) says: "Home is a rich and wonderful theme for poetry and it's a brilliant focus for this year's Young Poets competition. Whether it's thinking about our own homes, families, and the places that matter to us, or making people feel at home in our community, or thinking about those who don't have homes, or those who have to move from one place to another to make a new home - there's just so much inspiration in this theme for poetry that matters. I can't wait to read all the contributions!"
There are three age categories (4-7yrs, 8-11yrs, 12-16yrs), and the winners from each category will receive National Book Tokens as prizes. These prizes are matched with P & G Wells Book Tokens for their schools.
We extend thanks and gratitude to our generous sponsors. The first prizes for schools are sponsored by P & G Wells, our treasured independent bookshop. The remaining prizes are sponsored by a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous. They say: "As someone who has been writing for many years it is gratifying to see such continued enthusiasm for and love of poetry in young people. The diversity of their writing, the ideas related, challenges raised, or stories told are a joy. It is a privilege to be able to encourage that enthusiasm and, where something special is created, recognise that success in some small way in the hope that it will encourage people (of all ages!) to write more."
The Hampshire Young Poets competition 2023 theme of home is an exciting one to explore, and an inspiring reason for young people to put pen to paper. We look forward to seeing your poems - GOOD LUCK!
Find out more about the competition, including the guidelines and how to enter HERE
Hampshire Young Poets is a partnership between Hampshire Cultural Trust, Winchester Poetry Festival and Hampshire Library Service. First prize school prizes kindly sponsored by P&G Wells, Winchester.