We’ve been working with the Stratford Literary Festival for this year and we thought it would be worth a little note on their poetry competition.
Whether you’re something of an expert at sonnets and haikus or just have a knack for stringing words together, this year’s Stratford Literary Festival Poetry Competition is one not to be missed.
Whatever your literary style or age, the competition is open to everyone. All you need to do is write a poem with the subject of ‘My Home’, using a maximum of 600 words.
The poems will be judged in three age categories: seven to 10, 11 to 16 and 17 years and over, with the winning entries published and available to buy at the Festival.
Not only will the winning entries from this year’s competition receive a £50 prize but they will also be published in the Festival Book – being sold to book lovers expected to attend the week long event (25th April to 2nd May).
This year’s headline speakers from the Festival include Inspector Morse creator Colin Dexter, the inimitable Patricia Routledge, actor Larry Lamb, Today programme presenter John Humphrys, comedy actress Celia Imrie, bestselling crime writer Sophie Hannah, Whitbread winner Justin Cartwright, Baroness Shirley Williams, comedian Arthur Smith and DJ Mark Radcliffe.
Festival goers can also meet Molly Parkin, novelists Katie Fforde, Esther Freud and Barbara Trapido, and enjoy writing workshops, including a day with the editor of the Writer’s and Artist’s Yearbooks and Midlands poetry group Nine Arches Poets.
The deadline for entries will be 4pm on Friday, 18th March 2011, and entries can be submitted online by emailing them to: info@stratfordliteraryfestival.co.uk or handwritten and delivered to the event sponsor: Victoria Jeffs Estate Agents, 35-36 Guild Street, Stratford Upon Avon.
Stratford Literary Festival 2011 is working in partnership with The Week Magazine. Its ever-growing schools programme, supported by Stratford Town Trust, Arts Council and an intergenerational community project will be announced shortly.
The full terms and conditions and the Festival programme can be found on the website www.stratfordliteraryfestival.co.uk. Tickets are now available by calling 01789 207100 or online at www.civichall.co.uk.
