Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2024

The Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award is an opportunity for any young person aged 11-17 to accelerate their writing career. With entries from over 6,800 young people last year from across the UK and worldwide, it is the largest competition of its kind and its importance is widely attested.

Each year, 100 winners (15 top winners and 85 commended winners) are chosen by two high profile poets, and receive their awards at an annual prize-giving event in the autumn. Winners receive amazing prizes including membership of The Poetry Society, a stack of poetry goodies, and opportunities to receive mentoring and develop their creative writing skills alongside fellow poets, or benefit from poetry residencies at their school or online writing workshops.

Eligibility Criteria

• You must be aged 11-17 on the closing date of the 31st July 2024 in order to enter.
• Entries will be accepted from anywhere in the world. (Please note that they are unable to cover international travel fees for winners to attend the award ceremony but they may be able to contribute some travel costs towards travelling for mentoring opportunities.)

Conditions

• Individuals may enter more than one poem. However, they strongly advise that you concentrate on drafting and redrafting your poems and send only a selection of your very best. Remember, quality is more important than quantity.
• The competition is free to enter.
• Poems can be on any theme.
• Poems must be forty lines or shorter.
• Poems cannot have won any other competition.
• Poems must be the original work of the author (they do run checks for plagiarism on all selected poems), and must not have been created using AI.
• Poems must be written in English, but you can include phrases in your mother tongue or another language.
• You may not enter a poem written by more than one author.
• Your work is accepted on the basis that this will be its first publication anywhere in the world. This includes:
  • anthologies, magazines, solo collections, school prints, school newsletters;
  • online, including blogs and online magazines;
  • social media such as Twitter, Facebook or Instagram;
  • poems cannot have been broadcast on any regional, national or online TV station or via any radio platform.

Rules

• Competition entries cannot be returned under any circumstances. Please make sure you keep a record of all poems entered and send copies only.
• Entries will NOT be accepted via email.
• By entering this competition, entrants agree that their poems and data may be used by The Poetry Society, including for research purposes. Occasionally The Poetry Society works with academic and cultural partners to produce academic research. By entering this competition, you are also agreeing that your anonymised data and poems can be used in such research.
• If you are 11-12, your parent or guardian will need to give permission for you to enter. Without this permission they are not allowed to keep information about you, such as your contact details. This is because of data protection rules. Permission can be given online or by sending in the parent or guardian permission form.
• Teachers, librarians and youth leaders do not have to use the permission form, but should comply with their own organisation’s GDPR policy. The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into concerning this decision.

For more information, visit Foyle Foundation.