The Poetry Society

Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award
2011: Winners announced

One hundred winners (85 Commendations and 15 Overall Winners) were selected by our judges, Imtiaz Dharker and Glyn Maxwell, and received their awards at a prize-giving event on National Poetry Day, 6 October 2011. Read the winning poems and find out more about the winners.

Next year's Competition will open for entries in March 2012.

Foyle Young Poets of the Year: Winners 2011. Photo: Hayley Madden.

"The best young poets remind me how to have no fear, how to make awe seem cool, how to know nothing again, like the best poets do. I simply know that we will find some born writers"
2011 Judge Glyn Maxwell

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is recognised as the key award for young writers aged between 11 and 17 years. With entries from a staggering 7,200 young people this year across from the UK and worldwide, it is the largest competition of its kind and its importance is widely attested.

Each year 100 winners (85 Commendations and 15 Overall Winners) are selected by a team of high profile judges, and receive their awards at an annual prize-giving event on National Poetry Day. Thanks to funding from the Foyle Foundation the competition remains completely free to enter and we are able to offer a wide range of prizes, opportunities and resources to young people and schools across the UK.

Overall  Winners from the 15 to 17 age category attend a week-long intensive residential Arvon course where they develop their creative writing skills alongside fellow poets. Winners aged 11-14 group benefit from poetry residencies at their school followed by distance mentoring.

These winners are among the most promising young literary talent in the UK, and the ceremony is the first step in an ongoing process of developing this potential; many of our former winners have gone on to publish work with major publishing houses such as Faber & Faber and Carcanet, and we support them through a number of initiatives helping them to establish themselves in the literary and publishing world.

The competition is free to enter. Individuals may enter more than one poem, however we strongly advise that you concentrate on drafting and redrafting your poems and send only a small selection of your very best (we suggest no more than 6-8 maximum). Remember, quality is more important than quantity! See Full Rules

The 2010 Winners Anthology I Will See Great Things

The competition closes on the 31st July 2011. Last year we had a staggering 6,885 young poets enter their poems - could you submit a poem that can rise to the top of the pile? Be inspired - see what previous winners have gone on to do...