Current Competition - SW POETRY COMPETITION 2025
Brief: Write a Ekphrastic Poem* based of piece of artwork of your own choice via a personal visit to an art gallery or online.
- Ekphrastic poetry is a poem that is inspired by or written about a work of visual art. Ekphrastic poems aim to go beyond simple description and explore the meaning, emotions, and the poet’s emotional connection to it
Word Count: 40 lines max
Judge: Sally East - I was a member of Slough Writers from 2003 to 2016 and was in the top three of local poetry competitions a number of times. Since moving to Suffolk in 2016, I have performed my poetry at Suffolk Poetry Society events and have produced an anthology, ‘Please Remove Snowshoes Before Entering’.
Thoughts From The Judge - I will be looking for a poem that doesn’t just describe the artwork (painting, drawing etc. or sculpture), but shows the poet’s emotional response to it, so spend time getting to know your chosen artwork either in the gallery or online. I will also be looking for a poem that flows on the page, and that stays with me after I’ve read it.
Deadline:
MIDNIGHT SUNDAY 1st June 2025
Results:
Monday 7th July 2025
Rules:
Open to members only.
One entry per member.
Email entry only.
No author’s name to appear anywhere on the manuscript.
Title of piece and page number to appear on each page. (Footer or Header)
Title on Page 1 (Please do not use the title of competition as a title)
Line spacing – 1.5
Insert line count at the end of your piece.
If you are unsure about the formatting of your entry, you might find the Word documents on our website about suggested layouts and formats useful.
Submission Rules:
E-mail your poem as a word attachment and for this competition only, attach a photo of your chosen piece of artwork at the end of your poem to the Adjudicator (Terry)
Your file must have the same name as the title of your entry prefixed by SWPO25. (e.g. SWPO25 – SUNFLOWERS)
Once all the entries are in, the Adjudicator (Terry) will send them electronically to the judge
Please note that the Adjudicator (Terry) will only check that your file opens and not carry out any formatting or corrections on your behalf So please ensure you check that you have adhered to the rules and check you presentation, spellings etc.
You will receive an e-mail from the Adjudicator (Terry) confirming both when they have your entry and when it has been received by the judge.
For this competition, work may be discussed amongst members, but is entirely up to the individual and done on a mutual basis between writer and reader. Members should not discuss any other entries without the permission of the author to respect the privacy of those who wish to keep their work to themselves.
Failure to comply with any of the rules may result in your work being withdrawn from the competition.
Good Luck
Slough Writers Competitions (in general)
Style guides can be found here: Format & Layout, Instructions
Each term and over the summer break the Group organises a competition for members. See below for the terms of the currently-active competition.
Article over the Autumn term.
Short Story over the Spring term.
Poetry over the Summer term.
Varied topic over the summer break.
An external judge is appointed and there is a trophy for the winner and cash prizes for the three winning entries. The Summer competition sometimes involves the participants critiquing and ranking the other entries.
For more information about our competitions and trophies, please read About us page.