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Enter the Poetry Competition

Looking to enter a poetry competition? The Bedford Competition welcomes poets from around the world to submit original poetry for the chance to win prestigious prizes and be published.

How to Enter the Competition

Entering The Bedford Competition is simple. You can submit your poem online using our entry form, or follow the postal submission instructions if you prefer. Note: Postal submissions are only accepted from UK postal addresses.

Before submitting, please ensure your poem meets all competition requirements, including line count and formatting guidelines.

Entry Fees and Payment

An entry fee applies to each submission. Full details of current fees and payment methods are provided during the entry process.

We offer secure online payment options for quick and easy submission.

Competition Rules

Before entering, please read the full competition rules carefully to ensure your story is eligible.

The rules include important information on:

  • Line limits
  • Submission format
  • Eligibility criteria
  • Judging process

Why Enter This Poetry Competition?

The Bedford Competition is an international poetry competition open to poets of all backgrounds and experience levels.

By entering, you will:

  • Compete for valuable cash prizes
  • Gain recognition for your poetry
  • Have the opportunity to be published in our anthology
  • Share your work with a wider audience

Whether you are an emerging or experienced poet, this competition offers a rewarding opportunity to showcase your talent.

About The Bedford Competition

The Bedford Competition has built a strong reputation for celebrating new and established voices in poetry. Each year, entries are judged by experienced poets and industry professionals.

We are proud to support poets, promoting creative poetry through this respected international competition.

Start Your Entry Today

Ready to enter? Begin your submission now and take your place in one of the UK’s established poetry competitions.

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Enter Offline (UK residents only)
Entry Rules
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Poetry Competition

Click on the Download Form button to download a printable offline entry form.

Use this entry form if you wish to mail or hand deliver your story and entry fee. Please ensure that you read the competition rules. Postal entries are only accepted from UK residents. One entry form can be used to submit up to three stories. Click on the Download Form button again for any extra forms required.

Download Form
Fran Lock

Poetry Main Prize Judge

Fran Lock is the author of numerous chapbooks and fourteen poetry collections. Her most recent collections are Hyena! (Poetry Bus Press, 2023), shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize 2023 and for the PEN Heaney Prize 2024, and ‘a disgusting lie’: further adventures through the neoliberal hell-mouth (Pamenar Press, 2023). Spectres // Defectors /// No Respecters, an omnibus of three previous titles, with selected new material was published by Culture Matters in late 2024.Her most recent pamphlet is The New Herbal (Blueprint Press, 2024), and Vulgar Errors/ Feral Subjects, a collection of essays exploring feral subjectivity through the lens of the medieval bestiary, was published by Out-Spoken Press last year. Fran was the Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow at Cambridge University 2022-2023 and is a Commissioning Editor at the radical arts and culture cooperative Culture Matters. She lives in Kent with her sassy American bully, Luna.