Members' Poems

Members are invited to submit poems to Poetry News on a particular theme each quarter, and six of the best are included on a regular, dedicated members' page.  Recently our judges have included Lorraine Mariner, W.N. Herbert, Ruth Fainlight, Sam Riviere, Polly Clark and Jane Yeh.

Winners receive poetry books, entry into the annual Hamish Canham Prize and possible entry into the Forward Prize Best Single Poem category. The poems are judged by a published poet and both the judge and the theme changes with each issue. (Use the menu bar on the left to read the poems, organised by year).

Please send no more than two poems, each max 40 lines, typed on A4, with your membership number at the foot of each. Include an SAE  if you would like your poems returned. Send entries to 'Poetry News', Members' Poems, 22 Betterton Street, London WC2H 9BX.

Each summer, the Hamish Canham Poetry Prize is awarded to the best poem to appear in Poetry News that year.

The theme for the Poetry News winter competition is 'games' to coincide with this year's National Poetry Day Live theme. Poems selected by Lorraine Mariner will be published in the forthcoming issue, published in December.

SPRING COMPETITION: Bernardine Evaristo will judge the spring competition on the theme of 'war'. She is the author of six books of fiction and verse fiction including Blonde Roots, Lara and The Emperor's Babe. She has received several awards and was made an MBE in 2009.

The submission deadline is 1 February 2012. Poems will appear in the Spring issue published at the end of April.