The John Betjeman poetry competition for young people 2012 on Young Authors and Artists Group. The competition is open to 10-13 year-olds in the UK and the Republic of Ireland until a closing date of 31st July.
The judges are the poet Grace Nichols and the author and journalist Andrew Martin.
The first prize is £1000 (£500 to the winner and £500 to the English department of his or her school or local library).
The winning school and the school that generates the most number of entries will win poet visits. There are also Eurostar tickets and book tokens for winning entries. Each child is invited to send in (by post or online) one poem on the theme of ‘place’. They can choose anywhere that is important to them – from their bedroom to somewhere they visited on holiday, from their favourite park to their favourite building. The subject of their poem could be a city or a garden or a beach or a street. We are asking them to capture in words what that place means to them.
Winners of the poetry competition are invited to read their poems aloud to an audience of judges, entrants, teachers and parents as well as sponsors and press, at a prize giving held on National Poetry Day, Thursday 4th October, on the upper concourse of St Pancras International, next to the bronze statue of Sir John Betjeman by Martin Jennings. This year the prize of £1000 will be presented by an emcee (to be announced shortly) and Grace Nichols will read some of her poems.
Winners of the poetry competition are invited to read their poems aloud to an audience at an awards ceremony held on National Poetry Day, Thursday 4th October, on the upper concourse of St Pancras International, next to the bronze statue of Sir John Betjeman.
The competition is free to enter and online entry form can be found at our website http://www.betjemanpoetrycompetition.com . Poems can also be sent via the post and should be addressed to: The John Betjeman children’s poetry competition, PO BOX3770, Royal Mail, Swan Lane, Faringdon, Oxfordshire, SN7 7JB.
Good Luck,
Kathy
Young Authors and Artists Group 