The Poetry Business 40th Anniversary Collection Competition is now open.

The UK’s most prestigious collection competition
– Manchester Metropolitan University

The Poetry Business is delighted to announce that we will be running our usual Book and Pamphlet Competition as two separate strands this year: The Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition and the 40th Anniversary Collection Competition. This will allow us to publish our competition-winning pamphlets as usual and to publish a full collection by the winner of the collection competition.

The Poetry Business 40th Anniversary Collection Competition is open internationally to all writers at any stage in their careers. The winning collection will be published in 2027/28, promoted widely alongside our other new publications, and entered for all eligible awards and prizes. It will be sold in bookshops throughout the UK and through online stockists of The Poetry Business publications. We are delighted that this special iteration of the competition will be judged by poet, artist and filmmaker Imtiaz Dharker.

Our long-standing International Book & Pamphlet Competition will return next year. The Book & Pamphlet Competition was the first of its kind in Britain and has launched the careers of many well-established and successful poets, including Selima Hill, Michael Laskey, Daljit Nagra, Pascale Petit, Catherine Smith and Kim Moore.

Competition Details

Entrants are invited to submit a collection of 40 to 60 pages of poetry. One winner will be selected by the judge for publication under our award-winning imprint Smith|Doorstop Books. The winner will also receive £500, publication in The North magazine, and readings at The Wordsworth Trust and online. Two runners-up will receive publication in a feature in The North magazine, an online reading and an honorarium of £100 each.

The winner will receive expert close editing and support in developing their collection for publication.

Full-price entry to the 40^th Anniversary Collection Competition is £38. Subscribers to The North, Friends of the Poetry Business, and members of the Poetry Society are eligible for the discounted fee of £35. Entrants who also wish to enter the 2027 Pamphlet Competition may purchase a combined entry for £50.

We are keen to encourage poetry from all backgrounds and at this difficult time know that entry fees may be a barrier.  Therefore, we are allocating a number of free entries to this year’s International Book & Pamphlet Competition. Apply for the entry fee waiver here. (Applications for the fee waiver must be received by 14 October 2026.)

The deadline for entries is midnight on Wednesday 4th November 2026.

---

The Judge: Imtiaz Dharker

Ann and Peter Sansom are directors of The Poetry Business and editors of The North magazine and Smith|Doorstop books. Ann’s publications include Romance and In Praise of Men & Other People (Bloodaxe) and Peter’s include Writing Poems (Bloodaxe) and Selected Poems (Carcanet).

---

See the 2025 winners here.

Sign up to our mailing list for updates

---

Each and every year The Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet Competition discovers and publishes exciting and substantial new poets…There’s no doubt that this is a career-changing poetry competition. If you’ve got a solid body of work that you’re pleased to have written, there’s nowhere better to send it.

The Poetry Trust

One of the career milestones for very many poets of note

Anne-Marie Fyfe

I’ve judged a lot of contests, but I can’t recall any where the quality of the poems – one manuscript after another – was so high

Billy Collins, 2015 competition judge

---

Terms and Conditions

Entering the competition

• The competition is open to anyone aged 18 and over at the time of entering. International entries are welcome.
• We accept simultaneous competition submissions, including to our own Pamphlet Competition. Furthermore, if an entrant to the Collection Competition wins another prize for their collection before the results are announced, The Poetry Business will issue a full refund of the entrant’s entry fee.
• There is a standard fee of £38 for each entry submitted. This is reduced to £35 for entrants who are subscribers to The North magazine , are Friends of the Poetry Business or current members of the Poetry Society.
• Entry fee waivers are available for those who cannot afford the entry fee. Please see the competition web page for more details. Applications for the fee waiver must be received by 14th October.
• You may submit as many collections as you wish.
• Your real name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Choose a pen name and a title for your collection and insert into header of each page of your document.
• Online entries must complete the online entry form in full, and automatic confirmation will be provided at the time of submission. Online entries are encouraged, however postal entries can be made and must be accompanied by a completed entry form.
• Entries can be submitted online up to 11:59pm on 04/11/2026. Postal entries must be postmarked on or before the deadline.
• Alternations to manuscripts cannot be made once submitted.
• Previous winners of The Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet Competition are not eligible to re-enter within 5 years of winning. This does not include runners up or highly commended entrants, who are able to re-enter in subsequent years.
• We may use the email address you provide to contact you about the International Book & Pamphlet Competition, including the outcome of your entry. You can request to stop receiving updates from us at any time by contacting office@poetrybusiness.co.uk.

Your work

• We ask for small collections of 40 to 60 pages of poems. The winning poet will then be supported in extending their entry to a full collection of up to 72 pages. Poems can be any length, more than one poem can be included on one page, and long poems can cover several pages.
• The poems should be for adults, in English.
• Poems must be the original work of the entrant. AI-generated work is prohibited.
• We recommend you use a 12pt font, however there are no rules about the font, spacing or layout to use.
• Poems may have been published elsewhere but must not have previously appeared as a published collection.
• Copyright remains with the authors, but The Poetry Business reserves the right to first UK publication of the collection for 12 months from publication. (This doesn’t prevent publication elsewhere of individual poems.)
• We are unable to offer individual feedback.

The prizes

• Winner will have a collection published and receive a £500 cash prize.
• The Poetry Business reserves the right to refuse publication to any competition winner on reasonable grounds.
• All winners will have the opportunity to read their work at a poetry reading organised by The Poetry Business shortly before (or after) publication of their title.
• Each winning poet will have at least one of their poems published in the issue of The North magazine that immediately follows the announcement of the results.

The judging

• All entries are considered anonymously by the judges.
• The judges’ decision is final. If in the judges’ opinion no collection achieves a high enough standard, no prize-winner will be chosen.
• We reserve the right to change the panel of judges without notice.
• Entry in the competition will be deemed to be acceptance of these conditions.