2023 Poetry competition
The Cambrian Mountains Society welcomes entries to its 2023 poetry competition, celebrating the long tradition of poetry in mid-Wales. The competition theme is ‘Uplands‘, where contributors are asked to create a poem that illustrates a geographical, spiritual, ecological or personal experience of uplands.
You can download full details of the competition rules in English or Welsh. In summary, the society is offering a range of prizes as follows:
- Best Welsh poem – 1st prize £150 , 2nd prize a £20 book token.
- Best English poem – 1st prize £150, 2nd prize a £20 book token.
- Best poem from a contributor resident in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion or Powys – 1st prize £100, 2nd prize a £10 book token.
A poem can only win one of the prizes.
Judges
Entries will be judged by a panel of three judges.
Renowned Ceredigion poet Vernon Jones, former winner of the Chair of the National Eisteddfod, will judge the Welsh language entries.
The English language entries will be judged by a team of two. Local poet Cyril Jones won the Crown competition in the Ceredigion National Eisteddfod of 1992 and teaches creative writing modules at the University of South Wales as well as giving creative writing sessions to primary school children. He has written a book that serves as an introduction to Welsh literature, for learners of the language at all levels, and also lectures on Welsh and English poetry and is a staunch believer in the importance of experimenting with crossing the boundaries of languages, poetic forms and themes. Julie Brominicks is a prize-winning nature and travel writer whose articles are regularly published in BBC Countryfile Magazine. She lives off grid, in a caravan, in a secluded valley near Machynlleth. She is a longstanding walker, mostly around Europe. Her first book The Edge of Cymru was published by Seren in 2021. She blogs regularly at juliebrominicks.wordpress.com.
Conditions and fees
The competition is open to persons from anywhere in the world aged 16 and over. The poem must be written in English or Welsh, and be no longer than 40 lines (excluding the title).
The poem must be new and not already published, either in-print, online or via social media. The deadline for submissions is 30 November 2023. Judging will commence in December 2023 and the winners will be notified in January 2024. We will be holding a prize giving where winners will be invited to read their poems, on Cambrian Mountains Day (28 February) 2024.
The competition is free for Cambrian Mountains Society members. (You can join here for £15.) For non-members the entrance fee is £3.50 for a single entry, £6 for two entries, and £8 for three entries. Payment is accepted via PayPal, and a PayPal account is not required to facilitate payment.
The competition can be entered via an online submission or by post.
Online submission
For online submissions:
- If you are not a society member then purchase a competition entry via PayPal, by clicking on one of the links shown below:
- Send an email to secretary@cambrian-mountains.co.uk. The email should include the entrant’s full name, address and a contact phone number, and your PayPal receipt number for the payment, with each poem attached as a separate document.
Postal submission
For a postal submission the entrant must include:
- A covering letter that includes their name, address and a contact telephone number
- A separate page for each poem being submitted.
- A cheque payable to the ‘Cambrian Mountains Society’ for the entrance fee
The letter should be addressed to:
Secretary
Cambrian Mountains Society
Penybont Uchaf
Llanwrtyd Wells
Powys LD5 4TN
