There is just over a week left for entries in the prestigious 2025 Guernsey International Poetry Competition, which is attracting entries from all over the world.
One of the most keenly contested classes is for Channel Islands poets, a class won in the past by poets from Jersey, Guernsey and Sark.
Acclaimed international poet Imtiaz Dharker (pictured) is to judge the 2025 competition (Poems on the Move), organised in conjunction with the Guernsey Literary Festival.
The annual competition, which was launched in September, is open to poets worldwide and last year attracted more than 3000 poems. The 2025 closing date is 15 January.
The competition is this year again sponsored by Specsavers and supported by Guernsey Arts.
The competition is divided into three classes:
- Open (which carries a first prize of £1000),
- Channel Islands (£250)
- Young Poet (£250).
Over the years the competition has attracted an especially high quality of entries in the Young Poets’ class for under-18s and the organisers hope that this will continue for 2025.
Last year, Guernsey poets Theo Cross, with After Guernesiais, and Shaun Shackleton, with Goit, took first and second in the Channel Islands class. There will be prizes for first, second and third in each class and these poems and another 12 will be part of the Poems on the Move display, at Guernsey Airport and other island sites as well as on Guernsey buses.
Entries must be no longer than 14 lines and must fit on a single A4 page.
Full details and entry forms are available on the website or on leaflets which can be found at a number of sites in the Channel Islands.
Picture credit: Ayesha Dharker
