Poetry competitions serve as vital beacons in the literary landscape, offering recognition, validation, and often crucial financial support to poets at various stages of their careers. Among the most esteemed globally is the National Poetry Competition, organized by The Poetry Society. Celebrating exceptional single, unpublished poems, its results each year offer a snapshot of compelling contemporary voices and themes. As we navigate the world of poetry competitions in 2024, the announcement of the latest National Poetry Competition winners stands out as a significant event, highlighting notable achievements and setting benchmarks for aspiring poets worldwide.
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The 2024 National Poetry Competition results have been eagerly anticipated, and the winners were recently announced, showcasing a diverse range of talent and poetic expression.
The top honours for the 2024 competition were awarded as follows:
- 1st Prize: Fiona Larkin for her poem, ‘Absence has a grammar’
- 2nd Prize: Matt Barnard for ‘Two boys at midnight’
- 3rd Prize: Sorrel Briggs for ‘Heaven Down’
In addition to the top three, the judges also recognized several poets with commendations for their outstanding entries. These commended poets represent a breadth of styles and subjects, contributing to the richness of the competition’s outcome. The commended poets for 2024 are:
Andrew Dennison, Kit Buchan, Chris Beckett, Yong-Yu Huang, Lesley Sharpe, Lee Knapper, Hannah Perrin King
A competition of this stature also celebrates a wider pool of talent through its longlist. Making the longlist is a significant achievement, reflecting the high quality of submissions received from poets across the globe. The 2024 longlist features a vast array of poets whose work resonated with the judges:
Vasiliki Albedo Liapi, Bruce Alexander, Sarah Al-Hajj, Jeremy Audet, Andy Austin-Davies, Tate Bailey, Tom Bailey, Edward Barker, Mike Barlow, Flora Beagley, Lily Blacksell, Laurie Bolger, Colin Bramwell, Emily Breeds, Jessica Brown, Georgia Cabrera-Gutierrez, Finola Cahill, James Canavan, Maya Caspari, Ellie Cauvain, Duncan Chambers, Heather Chapman, Audrey Colasanti, Lauren Colley, Jack Cooper, Sarah-Clare Conlon, Katharine Craik, Carol Dalton, Patrick Davidson Roberts, Olga Dermott-Bond, Kathryn Dorfman, Charlotte Dormandy, Nick Drake, Stephen Duncan, Christina Dunhill, Christopher Edwards, Jonathan Edwards, Mark Fiddes, Dean Gessie, Ross Gillett, george graves, Arabella Green, Dila T. Gunay, Paul Gurton, Joshua Hallam, Allis Hamilton, Chris Hardy, Jack Haworth, A.R. Darland, Beverly Hughes, Frost Hughes, Talia Jacobs, Chris Jones, Gregory Kearns, David Keplinger, Tim Kiely, Anna Kisby, Houley Koundourou, Carolene Kurien, Vanessa Lampert, Bianca Layog, Wes Lee, Róisín Leggett Bohan, Emery Lipow, Nasim Luczaj, Gill Macdonald, Johanna Magin, Greg Mahrer, Martin Malone, Barbara Marsh, Robert Maslen, Anne McCulloch, Jim McElroy, John McKay, Paul McMahon, Kristen Mears, Olga Mexina, Jon Miller, Katrina Moinet, Sadhbh Moriarty, Jon Naskrent, Patrick Nathan, Eleonora Natilii, Mia Nelson, Sara Pensalfini, Stephen Poch, Robert Powell, Estelle Price, Victoria Pugh, Amanda Quaid, Maurice Quirke, Zen Ren, George Roberts, Peter Ross, Graeme Ryan, Nicholas Samaras, Jacqueline Saphra, Lesley Sharpe, Julie Sheridan, Maxine Sinclair, William Skelton, Copland Smith, Elizabeth Speller, Sandra Tan, Molly Underwood, Brett Van Toen, Imogen Wade, Kate Wakeling, Dolores Walshe, Seán Watmore, Hana Widerman, Maria Woodford, Luke Wright
The Esteemed Judges of 2024
The task of sifting through thousands of submissions falls to a panel of distinguished poets and literary figures. The credibility and perspective of the judges are crucial to the reputation of the competition. For 2024, the judging panel comprised Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Romalyn Ante, Associate Publisher at Carcanet Press John McAuliffe, and Forward Prize for Best First Collection winner Stephen Sexton. Their collective expertise spans diverse poetic backgrounds and critical approaches, ensuring a rigorous and thoughtful selection process.
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Each judge brought their unique insights and experience to the demanding role.
Stephen Sexton is an acclaimed poet whose first book, If All the World and Love Were Young, won the Forward Prize for Best First Collection in 2019 and the Shine / Strong Award. His numerous accolades include the E.M. Forster Award and the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, and he is a former winner of the National Poetry Competition itself (2016). His subsequent work, Cheryl’s Destinies, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection. He currently teaches at the Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen’s University, Belfast.
Romalyn Ante FRSL is a distinguished Filipino-British poet, essayist, and editor, known for her powerful exploration of themes like migration, identity, and labour. Her debut collection, Antiemetic for Homesickness (Chatto, 2020), received significant recognition, being shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. She is also a co-founding editor of harana poetry, a magazine dedicated to poets writing in English as a second or parallel language. A Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellow and editorial board member for Poetry London, she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her new collection, AGIMAT, is forthcoming in September 2024.
John McAuliffe is a prominent poet and academic. His upcoming book, National Theatre (Gallery), is due in Winter 2024. His published works include a Selected Poems (Gallery, 2021), The Kabul Olympics (Gallery, 2020), and versions of Igor Klikovac’s poetry. As Professor of Poetry at the University of Manchester and Associate Publisher at Carcanet Press, he brings a deep understanding of both the creation and publication of poetry.
The judges shared their perspectives on the experience of evaluating the entries:
John McAuliffe remarked on the competition’s role: ‘The National Poetry Competition tests the temperature of poetry every year and I’m looking forward to reading what people are writing now, and to finding suitably brilliant poems to add to this competition’s august backlist.’
Romalyn Ante expressed her honour and anticipation: ‘I am honoured to be one of the judges for this year’s National Poetry Competition. Poetry possesses a remarkable capacity to depict and enhance our fragile yet beautiful existence and experiences. I am excited to read the entries from around the world and engage with your brilliant writing and unforgettable voices. I look forward to reading your work for the National Poetry Competition!’
Stephen Sexton highlighted the personal significance and broader impact: ‘The National Poetry Competition transformed my writing life. It gave me encouragement and confidence in my work, but also a sense of permission to experiment and to strive for new forms and ideas and expressions. Not just an honour of the moment, then, but an endorsement for the future too. I am, therefore, thrilled and honoured to share the responsibility of judging this year’s competition and to witness the richnesses and complexities, moods, manners and matters of our language in the contemporary poem. I look forward to reading your work!’
The judges’ insights underscore the competition’s importance in identifying significant new poems and supporting poetic careers within the framework of poetry competitions in 2024.
Reflecting on Recent National Poetry Competition Winners
Looking back at previous years provides context for the calibre of work recognized by this major competition and highlights emerging and established voices that continue to shape the poetry landscape.
National Poetry Competition 2023 Winners
The 2023 results were announced on 25th March at Art Workers’ Guild, London. The judging panel consisted of Jane Draycott, Will Harris, and Clare Pollard.
The winners for 2023 were:
- 1st Prize: Imogen Wade, ‘The Time I Was Mugged In New York City’
- 2nd Prize: Fawzia Muradali Kane, ‘Eric’
- 3rd Prize: Rency Jumaoas Raquid, ‘Like Her’
Commended poets in 2023 included:
Anna Selby, ‘Liberty Caps’; A.V. Bridgwood, ‘You have eaten the patriarchy’; george graves, ‘crying at video’; Harriet Jae, ‘God has M.E.’; Katie O’Pray, ‘Sertraline Fever’; Jack Nicholls, ‘To Do’; Madeleine Wurzburger, ‘Oranges’.
Judges of the 2023 National Poetry Competition, including Jane Draycott (grey hair, earrings), Will Harris (leather jacket, blonde hair, glasses), and Clare Pollard (brown hair, fringe).
Left to right: Jane Draycott, Will Harris, Clare Pollard, the judges for the 2023 competition.
The longlist for 2023 also featured a significant number of poets:
Matt Abbott, Nicole Adabunu, Tomi Adegbayibi, Sanah Ahsan, Luke Allan, Audrey Ardern-Jones, Polly Atkin, Tiffany Atkinson, Becky Balfourth, Emily Barker, Sarah Barr , AJ Baumel, Ayomide Bayowa, Sharon Black, Adrian Blackledge, Paul Blake, Leo Boix, Claire Booker, Tim Bradford, Paula Brancato, Izzy Brittain, Michael Brown, Kizziah Burton, Michael Chang, Alexandra Chand, Kate Clanchy, Geraldine Clarkson, Michael Coley-Smith, Leyla Colpan, Courtney Conrad, Michael Connaughton, Alexandra Corrin-Tachibana, Ishan Costello, Jenny Danes, Caroline Davies, Chantale Davies, Annie Davison, Hélène Demetriades, Diepreye , Jack Dunlop, Ruby Eastwood, Shakeema Edwards, Geraint Ellis, Richard Evans, Marie-Louise Eyres, Pascal Fallas, Tamsyn Farr, Cleo Felstead, Mark Fiddes, Victoria Gatehouse , Sarah Gibbons, Kiara Gilbert, Hannah Godden, Rich Goodson, Katie Griffiths, Fee Griffin, Bethany Handley, Susannah Hart, Emily Harrison, Jack Haworth, Erica Hesketh, Sam Hickford, Susan E Holland, Sarah Hulme, Sharan Hunjan, Kirsten Irving, Helen Ivory, Molly Jackson, Harriet Jae, James Bradley, Emma Jeremy, Kirsty Jones, Lydia Kennaway, Safiya Kamaria Kinshasa, Logan Klutse, Kate Kuhlmann, Vanessa Lampert, Clara-Laeila Laudette, Emma Lee, Hershel Lidan, Marilyn Longstaff, lisa luxx , Kevin MacAlan, Ewan Mackinnon, David McCormack, Paul McMahon, Clive McWilliam, Maurane , David May, Alex Mepham, Hannah Morrison, JLM Morton, Elias Noren, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Kathryn O’Borne, Rebecca O’Connor, Neil O’Hara, Ann Pilling, Felicity Plunkett, Sarah Powell, Wendy Pratt, Mallory Profeta, Rose Proudfoot, Victoria Pugh, Amanda Quaid, Helen Quah, GS Quinn, Alesha Racine, Tom Rees, Dave Robertson, Rosie Rockel, Sharon Rockman, Stevie Ronnie, Phoebe Rose, Terese Säljö, Jane Satterfield, Rami Schandall, Amy Schofield, Laura Scott, Tim Scott, Mara Adamitz Scrupe, Michael Naghten Shanks, Hannah Silva, Tracey Slaughter, Caroline Smith, Meier Smith, Brian Sneeden, Sue Spiers, Jean Stevens, Mark Stewart, Anne Stillings, Angus Strachan, Laura Strickland, Errol T, Christina Thatcher, Jane Talbot, Charlotte Salkind, Royston Tester, Lauren Thomas, Oenone Thomas, Marvin Thompson, Pam Thompson, Basil du Toit, Eliza O’Toole, Harriet Torr, Aileen La Tourette, Cat Turhan, Suzannah V Evans, Jack Walters, Christian Ward, Isabel Waters-Widmanski, Rishika Williams, Olivia Wilson, Carson Wolfe, Shaw Worth, William Wyld, Hebe Yu
National Poetry Competition 2022 Winners
The 2022 competition, judged by Greta Stoddart, Jason Allen-Paisant and Michael Symmons Roberts, saw its results announced on 29 March 2023. This year was particularly notable for the sheer volume of entries, with over 17,800 poems submitted by 8,112 poets from 103 countries, demonstrating the competition’s global reach among poetry competitions.
The 2022 winners were:
- 1st Prize: Lee Stockdale, ‘My Dead Father’s General Store in the Middle of a Desert’
- 2nd Prize: Tife Kusoro, ‘the only other dark-skinned girl’
- 3rd Prize: Freya Bantiff, ‘God the Whale’
Commended poets in 2022 included:
Mike Barlow, ‘My Uncle Ivan’, Elena Croitoru, ‘Quantum Mechanics’, Caroline Druitt, ‘We said goodbye at Nelson’s Column’, Susannah Hart, ‘Stepfather: Three Likenesses’, Rosie Jackson, ‘The Boisterous Sobbings of Margery Kempe’, Jennifer Nadel, ‘a cold coming’, Jeri Onitskansky, ‘The Pretty Goat’
The 2022 longlist was also extensive, representing the wide pool of talent submitting to the competition:
Nicole Adabunu · Arthur Allen · George Amabile · Mia Condron Asquith · Polly Atkin · Chaun Ballard · Liam Bates · Joan Baxter · Sarah Bitter · Joshua Blackman · Laura Bonang · Melanie Branton · Dean Browne · Kizziah Burton · Jane Burn · John Challis · Kate Clanchy · Victoria Clarke · Michael Conley · Hannah Connors · Courtney Conrad · Frances Corkey Thompson · Annabelle Cormack · Claire Cox · Katharine Craik · Tim Craven · Jade Cuttle · Aviva Dautch · Lucinda Davis · Sarah Doyle · James Driver · James Dufficy · Larissa Dunn · Eve Ellis · Eve Esfandiari-Denney · Katy Evans-Bush · Mark Farley · Paul Fenn · Sarah Fischer Field · Toby Fitch. Abigail Francis · Anna Frearson · Ann Giard-Chase Jason Gray · Mish Green · Katie Hale · Juliette Hart · Susannah Hart · Emily Harrison · Jo Haslam · Tabitha Hayward · James Michael Heaney · Christina Hennemann · Sam Hickford · Hannah Hodgson · Lindsey Holland · Mary-Jane Holmes · Eleanor Hooker · Christopher Horton · Jack Houston. Kit Ingram · Yasmin Inkersole · Christopher James · Emma Jeremy · Lois P Jones · Mabel Joshua-Amadi · Mark Joseph · Vishvantara Julia · Gaynor Kane · Michael Kealy · Lydia Kennaway · Jukka Koskelainen · Peter Krumbach · Zosia Kuczyńska · Thomas Laichas · Harry Laventure · Ian Lavery · Bryony Leeson · Debbie Lim · Theresa Lola · Amelia Loulli · Bernadette Lynch · Katharyn Machan · Wendy Manning · Barbara Marsh · Charlotte Marsh · Jenny Martin · Jane Wilkinson · Aisha McCrae · Alison McCrossan · Jim McElroy · Paul McMahon · Audrey Molloy · Karen Morash · Jarrett Moseley · Cheryl Moskowitz · Mary Mulholland · Andrew Musgrave · Eve Naden · Iain Napier · Serge Neptune · C.P. Nield · Joanna Nissel · Christopher North · Damen O’Brien · Laurence O’Dwyer · Judy O’Kane · Idman Omar · William Perryman · Kristal Phillips · Andrew Pidoux · Ann Pilling · Kathy Pimlott · Helen Pletts · Estelle Price · Helen Quah · Brenda Read-Brown · Richard Robbins · Sue Robbins. Julie Runacres · Georgio Russell · James Sapsard · Anna Selby · Jane Simmons · Sandy Solomon · Elizabeth Speller · Ella Standage · S.F. Stewart Romany Stott · Jeffery Sugarman · Peter Thickett · Michael W. Thomas · Susan Thomas · Cathryn Turhan · Samuel Ugbechie · Molly Underwood · Polly Walshe · Alan Weadick · Julia Webb · Roger West · John White · Petra White · Meesha Williams · Heidi Williamson · Maria Woodford · Susan Anne Wood · Luke Samuel Yates · Annina Zheng-Hardy
National Poetry Competition 2021 Winners
The 2021 results were announced at Mercers’ Hall on 31 March 2022. The judges for this competition were Fiona Benson, David Constantine, and Rachel Long. They reviewed 16,729 poems from 7,012 poets across 100 countries, a testament to the international appeal of the competition.
The 2021 winners were:
- 1st Prize: Eric Yip for ‘Fricatives’
- 2nd Prize: Jed Myers for ‘I Picture Him Driving’
- 3rd Prize: Emma Purshouse for ‘Catherine Eddowes’ tin box as a key witness’
The commended poets in 2021 included:
Jo Haslam for [‘A lyke wake for auntie’](https://poems.poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/a-lyke-wake for-auntie/), Lindsey Holland for ‘A Riddle of Hamsters’, Martin Reed for ‘Durleigh’, J.C. Todd for ‘Old Friends, Here and Gone’, Kizziah Burton for ‘We Were Learning Not to Look Away But To Look Through It Like A Wind Eye’, HLR for ‘When I First Bled’ and M.R. Peacocke for ‘Out of School’.
The longlist for the 2021 competition was:
Aileen Ballantyne, Amy Wolstenholme, Andrea Witzke Slot, Anita Ngai, Anna Whyatt, Anne Bailie, Anne Macaulay, Ayokunle Falomo, Blair Bourassa, Brian Herdman, Bridget O’Bernstein, Bunmi Ogunsiji, Caleb Leow, Carla Grosch-Miller, Carol Woods, Caroline Stancer, Catherine Edmunds, Catriona Wright, Charlie Druce, Charlotte Shevchenko Knight, Christine Webb, Christopher Wellings, Conor Cleary, Cory Ingram, Damen O’Brien, David Bleiman, David McLoghlin, David Robertson, David Swann, Denise O’Hagan, Dolores Walshe, Donald Futers, Elena Croitoru, Elizabeth Oxley, Ellen McAteer, Emily Harrison, Etan Kerr-Finell, Ewan Mackinnon, Fiona Bennett, Frank Jones, Geraldine Clarkson, Harriet Torr, Helen Mort, Hilary Taylor, Hugh Holme, I. Patterson, Inua Ellams, Jane Draycott, Jane Houston, Jane Warren, Jeanette Burton, Jennifer Hall, Jenny Martin, Jenny Mitchell, Jestyn Portugill, John Hussey, Jonathan Bates, Jonathan Edwards, Julie McNeely-Kirwan, Kate Segriff, Kathryn Bevis, Kirsten Irving, Lance Larsen, Laura Theis, Lauren Garland, Leonardo Boix, Lindy Barbour, Lynn Foote, Lynne Burnett, Lynne Jones, Maeve Cullen, Mark Fiddes, Maxine Backus, Mel Elberger, Merrie Joy Williams, Michael Forester, Midnight Dean, Mike Pullman, Miranda Peake, Moss Selkin, Neal Hoskins, Neil Fleming, Nicholas Samaras, Nick Drake, Nick Hawker, Oli Isaac, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Partridge Boswell, Patch Fusi, Peter Krumbach, Rachel Burns, Robert Maxwell Duncan, Roger West, Ros Woolner, Sanah Ahsan, Scott McKendry, Simon Costello, Steph Morris, Tabitha Hayward, Tanvi Roberts, Tyler Jones, Valentina Rindunica, Vanessa Lampert, Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Vijaya Venkatesan, Wendy Manning, William Stephenson and Zelda Chappel.
The Pulse of Poetry Competitions in 2024
The results of the National Poetry Competition for 2024, alongside a review of recent years, provide valuable insight into the ongoing vitality and global nature of poetry competitions. They highlight the dedication of poets worldwide and the significant work of literary organizations like The Poetry Society in fostering poetic talent. As poets continue to craft and share their work, competitions like these remain central to the discovery and celebration of powerful new voices and poems, marking key moments in the literary calendar of 2024 and beyond. Exploring the winning poems and the work of the commended and longlisted poets offers a rich journey into the diverse themes, forms, and emotional depths being explored in contemporary poetry today.