Shepton Snowdrops 2025 Poetry Competition

 Full details 

THEME: TREASURES OF NATURE – ENTRIES OPEN 3 OCTOBER 2024

The prize giving ceremony for both the Poetry and Photography competitions will take place in the Baptist Church, Commercial Road, Shepton Mallet, BA4 5BU, on Saturday 22th February 2025 at 2pm.

PRIZE FOR 3 CATEGORIES 

18 & Over – £300

12 to 17 – £100

11 & Under – £50

WE’RE DELIGHTED TO WELCOME BACK WENDY PRATT AS OUR JUDGE FOR 2025 

Speaking about what she hopes to see for 2025, Wendy said:

“When you think of the ‘treasures of nature’ what comes to mind? This year’s competition theme is all about how we value nature.

“As human beings – biological organisms – we are naturally drawn to our biological cousins, other animals, but this year we want you to think about geology, landscape and flora as natural treasures. How do you feel when you stand on the precipice of a mountain, or when you hold in your hand a fossil; a ghost of something that lived so long ago it’s imprint has become rock? What happens when you place your head on the ground and change your viewpoint; when the tiniest of fungi are eye level with you? What is the natural background of your own life? Where is the treasure to be found in cliff tops, valleys, rivers and oceans? Perhaps there is a very specific landscape that means a great deal to you, perhaps there have been events in your life that are mirrored by the landscape you exist in. Perhaps you are the landscape, and the landscape is you. Are you the sound of the wind blowing through a canopy of beech trees, the dark that exists in an underground cave, the light on the north sea at the moment of solstice?

“Think outside the box, use your creativity to bring the background to the fore, to make the usual unusual. Good luck!”

RULES ABOUT ENTRY

All entries are accepted in good faith

The poems must be your own original work and not have been published before or currently entered in any other competition

We want to read poems created from your own imaginations and hard work, please do not use AI in any way to generate your poems

Copyright remains with you but we reserve the right to reproduce the poems in print and digital form to publicise and promote the competition and the Festival

No single piece of work, or entrant can win more than one prize

Your poem(s) must be no more than 30 lines long

Entrants agree to indemnify the judges, organisers, and any other related parties against any litigation that may arise should the poems entered not have the necessary permission to be published

We reserve the right to update and amend these rules at any time, but only if necessary; any changes will be posted on this website

The judge’s decision is final.

HOW TO ENTER

The entry fee is £4 per poem for age ’18 & Over’, and free of charge for under 18s

Over 18s can submit up to five poems, under 18s one poem

Entrants can enter poems from any country in the world, but they must be written in English.

You can write your poems in any format – haiku, sonnet, blank verse etc., but they must be relevant to the theme. The organisers reserve the right to disqualify any entries they consider to be not relevant to the theme.

Registration, entry and any payment due must be completed online through our official competition platform Skor.ie

Poems are now entered as text on the website, rather than as a file.  You can format your text once it has been entered

The competition is judged anonymously, so please don’t add your name, address or any other identifier to your poem

Your entry should have a unique title and your initials in the filename e.g. “Morning Splendour – AS”

Deadline for entry is 11pm on Monday 6 January 2025.  

Registration, entry and any payment due must be completed online through our official competition platform Skor.ie