The Keats-Shelley Prize 2015

The Keats-Shelley Prize is an annual competition for essays and poems on Romantic themes. Inaugurated in 1998, the Prize encourages writers to respond creatively to the work of the Romantics. 

£4,000 in Prize Money

NEW! Essay Class for 16-18 year Olds

The Keats-Shelley Memorial Association is delighted to announce that the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy CBE FRSL has been appointed as Chair of the judges of the Keats-Shelley Prize 2015. Poet and playwright Carol Ann Duffy is herself a multi-award-winning writer: her prizes include the Somerset Maugham, Eric Gregory, Forward, National Poetry, Whitbread, T.S. Eliot, Costa and Pen/Pinter. She published her first anthology at the age of nineteen. 
Carol Ann Duffy became the first woman poet laureate in 2009 and her poetry has been on the National Curriculum since 1994. She is Professor of Contemporary Poetry and Creative Director of the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. 

Judges panel: Poets: Matthew Sweeney and Jo Shapcott

Essay judges: Professor Simon Bainbridge and Professor Sharon Ruston

How to Enter 
Poems must not exceed 40 lines. They should focus on the theme Watcher of the Skies and  should not be a pastiche.
Essays, on any aspect of the work or lives of the Romantics and their circles, should not exceed 3,000 words including quotations, and should be written in a clear accessible style. All sources must be acknowledged.

Essays in the new 16-18 class should be no more than 1,500 words including quotations. Entrants in this class should be 16 or over on 1^st January 2015 and no more than 18 on 13th March 2015.

              T

Deadline for all entries 1^st February 2015

Publication

Entries must be unpublished either in print or on-line and original work not previously submitted. Copyright will be assigned to the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association and your entry will be deemed as consent to first publication in journals nominated by the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association

Your Entry

Email entries should be sent in Microsoft Word format to [email protected]

Postal entries should be sent to: Keats-Shelley Prize, c/o Beaufort Montague Harris Solicitors, Old Bank House, 79 Broad Street, Chipping Sodbury BS37 6AD

Send 3 typed A4 copies.

Entries will be acknowledged 

All entries must be accompanied by the completed Entry Form downloaded from the KSMA website or here.

NB all entries are sent to the judges anonymously so please do not put your name on your actual entry.

Payment

Each entry costs £5.00. You may enter up to two poems and/or two essays.

You can pay by Paypal via our website or post a cheque or money order. Cheques should be made payable to KSMA and sent together with your entry to the address above.

Entries to the 16-18 class are FREE.

Awards

Winners will be notified in April and a presentation ceremony will take place in London on  21st April to Enter