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MSLEXIA & PBS WOMEN'S POETRY COMPETITIONS 2019

  
The Mslexia and PBS Women's Poetry and Pamphlet Competitions are now closed. All entrants will be notified of the results of the competition by the end of the year.
 
The Poetry Book Society (PBS) is delighted to be partnering with Mslexia on two prestigious women’s poetry prizes. The Women's Poetry Competition will be judged by the award winning poet Malika Booker. Entrants can win up to £2000, alongside publication in Mslexia and the PBS Bulletin poetry magazine, as well as the chance to be mentored by PBS Book Selector Sandeep Parmar and attend a writing retreat at Scotland's International Artist Residency Centre, Cove Park. The Women's Pamphlet Competition offers women poets the life-changing opportunity to publish a pamphlet with leading independent publisher, Seren. Both competitions are open via our Submittable page from the 1st June to 16th September. You can also submit by post by filling out this form, or over the phone by calling +44 (0) 191 230 8100 (please ensure your poems are ready to send via email or post at the point of phone submission). Read our full Terms and Conditions here.
  

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WOMEN'S POETRY COMPETITION |  JUDGE MALIKA BOOKER
1st PRIZE: £2000 (plus optional mentorship and writing retreat) | 2nd: £400 | 3rd: £250 | 17 FINALISTS: £25 | UNPUBLISHED POET: £250
 
All women poets are invited to submit poems to our exciting competition, the winner of which will receive £2,000, an optional writing retreat with PBS Selector Sandeep Parmar and a residency kindly provided by Cove Park. For the entree fee of £10 you can submit up to 3 poems, or more across multiple submissions! Winning poets will also be featured in the Mslexia magazine, and a selection in the PBS Bulletin. Click here to submit online (you will need to make a Submittable account).
 
 
 
WOMEN'S PAMPHLET COMPETITION |  JUDGE AMY WACK
WINNING PRIZE: PAMPHLET PUBLICATION BY SEREN BOOKS & £250
 
Women poets who have not previously had a full collection published are invited to submit a new poetry pamphlet for an entrance fee of £20 (or multiple pamphlets across multiple submissions). The winning pamphlet will be selected for publication by Seren Books, and the poet will win £250! Click here to submit online (you will need to make a Submittable account).
 
 

Links

Click the below links to access further resources and information.
To print a postal entry form, click the above link. If using a web browser, you will be taken to a new page where you can click the 'Print' icon in the top right corner. 

THE POETRY BOOK SOCIETY is a unique poetry book club founded by TS Eliot in 1953 to "propagate the art of poetry". In 2016, the PBS moved to Inpress in Newcastle and has since launched the redesigned Bulletin magazine, the Wild Card Choice to celebrate a more diverse range of poetry and co-founded
the Northern Poetry Symposium. The PBS is proud to showcase the best new contemporary poetry, including powerful female poets such as Sophie Collins and Sinéad Morrissey.

MSLEXIA is a registered charity dedicated to redressing the gender imbalance in publishing, primarily through a quarterly creative writing magazine for women, a programme of annual events, and a roster of prestigious competitions and awards. Established in 1999, Mslexia aims to provide a high-profile platform for both new and established voices. A quarterly masterclass in the business and psychology of writing, it’s the essential magazine for women who write. Mslexia is supported by Arts Council England and Paul Hamlyn Foundation. 

COVE PARK is a rural artists’ residency centre, just one hour from Glasgow on Scotland’s picturesque west coast. Its residencies support the development of new work by national and international artists, groups and organisations working across all art forms.
 
 
MALIKA BOOKER is a British poet of Guyanese and Grenadian parentage and the founder of Malika’s Poetry Kitchen. Her collection Pepper Seed, (Peepal Tree Press) was shortlisted for the OCM Bocas 2014 poetry prize, and the Seamus Heaney Centre 2014 prize for first full collection. She was recently awarded the Cultural Fellowship in Creative Writing/ Literary Art post at Leeds University. Malika was the first British poet to be a fellow at Cave Canem and the inaugural Poet in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has written for the stage and radio, and poems are widely published in anthologies and journals including: Out of Bounds, Black & Asian Poets (Bloodaxe 2012); Ten New Poets (Bloodaxe, 2010)and Bittersweet: Contemporary Black Women’s Poetry (The Women’s Press, 1998). Breadfruit, was published 2007. In 2017 she was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem.
 
Entries open from 1st June. For further queries read the FAQs here. If we have not answered your question, contact us at pbsprizes@inpressbooks.co.uk or on +44 (0) 191 230 8100.
Want to practise before you enter? Have a look at our Writing Tips and Poetry Prompts blog posts, or How to Be a Poet by Jo Bell.
 
Follow the prizes on @poetrybooksoc @mslexia #womenspoetryprizes
 
 
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