South Downs Poetry Festival Competition

South Downs Poetry Festival Binsted Prize 2026
ENTER YOUR ORIGINAL POEMS FOR THE BINSTED PRIZE
PLUS FREE ENTRANCE TO THE PRIZE EVENT ON 23 MAY 2026
CLOSING DATE FOR ENTRIES 31 MARCH 2026
The South Downs Poetry Festival Competition is open to everyone, including international entries.
RULES
Poems must be the original work of the author and not previously published in any form including online.
Poems must not exceed 40 lines.
Poems submitted to other competitions can be accepted subject to withdrawal if another prize is awarded before winners in this competition are notified.
SUBMISSION
Email only, no postal entries.
After making your payment, email your poems as an attachment (Word.doc, .docx, only) to sdpfcomp@gmail.com
No author names on poems - personal details to go on email only
Include in the body of the email: Poets Name, Address and Phone Number, List of Titles, Number of Poems, Total Fees, & Payment Receipt Number.
NO ENTRY CAN BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT A PAYMENT RECEIPT NUMBER.
FEES
5 for first poem and 4 thereafter. No limit on entries.
Please note that your entry payment also covers entrance to the Awards event at St Johns Chapel in Chichester on Sat 23 May, 7pm.
TIMELINE
Submit by midnight (GMT) on Mon 31 March 2026; prize-winners will be contacted in week commencing Mon 4 May 2026. Submissions acknowledged by email receipt. Results posted on the SDPF website by Mon 18 May.
PRIZES:
Overall winner: Binsted Prize and 250; 150: runner-up; 50: third place;
+ publication in the Binsted Prize Anthology for winning and highly commended poems. The judges decision is final. Amendments to poems cannot be accepted.
JUDGE
The judge for this competition is JOANNA LILLEY.
Joanna Lilleys third poetry collection, Endlings, was published by Turnstone Press and won the Fred Kerner Book Award. She's also the author of a novel and a short story collection, and her fourth poetry book, Three Pieces of Sea, is out in spring 2026 with Turnstone Press. From the south of England, Joanna lived in Wales and Scotland before moving to Yukon, Canada, where she resides with gratitude on the Traditional Territories of the Kwanlin Dn First Nation and the Ta'an Kwch'n Council. Shes given readings and workshops as far afield as Alaska and Iceland and in 2021 was awarded Commissioner of Yukons Borealis Prize for literary contribution.
Joanna is online at www.joannalilley.blogspot.com.
Please see the SDPF website for further information. https://www.sdpf.org.uk/ andhttps://www.southdownspoetryfestival.com/competition