Pens at the ready! Canterbury Festival is on the search for Poet of the Year 2017

 It’s all systems go at Canterbury Festival in preparation for the launch of the annual Poet of the Year Competition. Organised by the Festival Friends, the 2016 competition was the most successful so far with a grand total of 391 poems being received from all over the world and, for the first time, there were joint winners.

It is well worth getting creative as the winning poet will receive the University of Kent Prize of £200 and the title of Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year 2017. There are also prizes for second (£100) and third (£50) places, the People’s Choice (£25) and the Best-Read poem (a bottle of sparkling wine).

This year’s competition will open on 6 March and the entry deadline is 19 June after which a longlist of poems is chosen and published in an anthology.  The poems will then be whittled down to a short list, from which the winners are chosen and announced at the Poet of the Year award ceremony in September. The fee for entry is £5 per poem.

So, go on, release that inner poet and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and send in your entries!  You may find yourself the happy recipient of £200 and carrying the title of Poet of the Year 2017 with your work going global!

Full details are on the Festival website www.canterburyfestival.co.uk  or contact Tina at the Festival Office on 01227 452853 or [email protected].