Latest News
2024 Poetry prize winner longlisted for Forward Poetry Prize
We are delighted to announce that our 2024 Poetry Prize winner, Panika Dillon, has been longlisted for this year’s Forward Poetry Prize – Written for her poem, ‘two cents for Young Goodman Bryan’. In her 2024 Poetry Judge’s report, Jessica Mookherjee said that the poem: ‘not only moved me, educated me and mesmerised me—but it also made me shudder and impressed me with its form as well as content’.
The Forward Poetry Prizes are some of the most prestigious poetry prizes and previous winners include: Simon Armitage, Seamus Heaney, Carol Ann Duffy, Claudia Rankine, and Jackie Kay.Â
Everyone at The Bedford Competition was overjoyed by the poem’s inclusion in the longlist; it’s a tremendous achievement, and a real testament to the quality of Panika’s poetry.
Bedford Fringe Festival 'Bedfringe' - Wednesday 22nd July - Sunday 26th July
Mark Steinhardt, short story competition reader for The Bedford Competition is appearing at Bedfringe on Friday 24th July (17:00) and Sunday 26th July (13:00)
2025 Poetry and Short Story Main Competition Longlist, shortlist and overall competition winners announced.
Click here to see the complete list.
The Forward Book Prize
The Forward Book of Poetry, an anthology of the best poems from 2024, includes poems from The Bedford Competition judges:
Rishi Dastidar, 2024 and 2025 Cygnature Poetry judge.
Fran Lock, 2025 Main Poetry judge.
Also several of our competition entrants are in the collection:
Damen O’Brien – Winner in 2022
Vanessa Lampert -Third Place in 2021 and shortlisted in 2020
We congratulate them and are proud to have our judges and poets represented in the most influential awards for new poetry published in the UK and Ireland.
