Organised by

Guernsey Literary Festival

Sponsored by

Specsavers

Supported by

Guernsey Arts

Guernsey 
International Poetry
 Competition 2024

Judged by Paul Muldoon
Competition deadline

Your poem could be on show in 2024. The Guernsey Literary Festival, together with Guernsey Arts, presents a competition that could deliver your work to thousands of readers.

Winning entries are displayed in two phases: 21 bus poems will be chosen, and the top 9 of these will take part in a second, larger exhibition, first at Guernsey Airport, then all over the island.

Entries must be no longer than 14 lines and must fit on a single A4 page.

Competition deadline 15 Jan 2024

Our Judge for 2024 is Irish poet, Paul Muldoon

Paul Muldoon was born in County Armagh in 1951. He now lives in New York. A former radio and television producer for the BBC in Belfast, he has taught at Princeton University for thirty-five years. He is the author of fifteen collections of poetry including Moy Sand and Gravel, for which he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize, and Joy in Service on Rue Tagore, published by FSG and Faber and Faber in 2024. He serves as Ireland Professor of Poetry 2022-2025.

Filter judge: Candy Neubert was born in Guernsey. Her poetry collections Channel and Island are inspired by Guernsey.

Poetry winners’ reading at the Guernsey Literary Festival

Guernsey is an exceptional and inspiring location for a literary festival with an abundance of natural beauty and a thriving Arts scene. The 2024 Guernsey Literary Festival takes place from 23 April – 5 May 2024.

The festival offers a varied and energetic celebration of literature with something for everyone – from working writers to families looking for a fun day out. For more information on events in 2024 visit guernseyliteraryfestival.com.

We invite you to join us for the International Poetry Competition Winners’ Reading on Saturday 4th May 2024.

Categories & prizes

Three finalists in each category, and a further 12 poems for the bus exhibition will be selected by the judge. The judge’s decision is final.

Poems on the Move Exhibition 2024

Nine finalists, three from each category.

Poems on the Buses Exhibition 2024

All nine finalists, and a further 12 poems from all categories.

Open Poetry

Ages 18 and over*

Entries £4 per poem
or enter 3 poems for £10

1st prize £1000
2nd place £500
3rd place £250

Channel Islands’ 
Poetry

Ages 18 and over, born

or resident* in the
Channel Islands

Entries £4 per poem
or enter 3 poems for £10

1st prize £250
2nd place £50
3rd place £30

Young People’s 
Poetry

Aged 11-17*
Free Entry

1st prize £250
2nd place £50
3rd place £30

*Age and resident on 15th January 2024. †Poems submitted in the Channel Islands and Young People’s category are also automatically entered into the Open category.

Previous competitions

The Guernsey Literary Festival has organised the International Poetry Competition since 2013. Previous judges have included Candy Neubert, Andrew Motion, Ian McMillan, Gwyneth Lewis, Daljit Nagra, Maura Dooley, Kate Clanchy, Simon Armitage, Michael Symmons Roberts and Jackie Kay.

Poems on the Move exhibitions have featured winning poems on Guernsey buses and on Aurigny aircraft, at Guernsey Airport and Ferry Terminal, the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, the Courts of Guernsey and Castle Cornet. Other venues have included libraries and museums, churches and local schools.

2023 Winners

Judged by Jackie Kay

Judge’s notes

Open Poetry

  1. 1st

    On the hospital bed - Owen Lewis

    Read poem
  2. 2nd

    At St Augustine’s - Nina Quigley

    Read poem
  3. 3rd

    Whale Bones - Sara-Kate Simons

    Read poem

Channel Islands’ Poetry

  1. 1st

    Between the Sun and the Snail Slime - Kevin Bales

    Read poem
  2. 2nd

    All Aboard the 92 - Sally Pond

    Read poem
  3. 3rd

    Diversion - Hayley North

    Read poem

Young People’s Poetry

  1. 1st

    Growing Pains - Sarah-Kate Simons

    Read poem
  2. 2nd

    Bat Detecting - Emily Hunt

    Read poem
  3. 3rd

    Memories - Oshadha Perera

    Read poem

Poems on the Buses Exhibition

  1. Bus

    Accident - Miranda Pearson

    Read poem
  2. Bus

    A Sudden Turn - Jenny Mitchell

    Read poem
  3. Bus

    at night - Sarah Hemings

    Read poem
  4. Bus

    Bottom of a Barrel - Lorelei Clarke

    Read poem
  5. Bus

    Corncucopia - Simon Evans

    Read poem
  6. Bus

    Elsewhere - Divya Venkat Sridhar

    Read poem
  7. Bus

    Inundation - Sandra Noel

    Read poem
  8. Bus

    It Rains When I Miss You - Lorelei Clarke,

    Read poem
  9. Bus

    like a sonnet - Roger West

    Read poem
  10. Bus

    Swing set - Divya Venkat Sridhar

    Read poem
  11. Bus

    The first time I saw - Judy Mantle

    Read poem
  12. Bus

    The Nightie I keep at my Mother’s House - Martine Padwell

    Read poem

Previous winners