Kirkstall Art Trail celebrates art in its many forms, including painting with words. The Poetry Trail returns for a third year, providing planned poetic persuasiveness permeating participants’ particular pondering.
There will be a trail of poems around Kirkstall attached to street furniture during the weekend of the Kirkstall Art Trail and left in place until chance makes its final judgement on poetic artistry. Chance takes many forms: the weather, poem collectors, and vandals.
Poetry Trail map
There will be an interactive map showing the locations of all the poems. Each map marker will include a pop-up with a short biography of the poet and a link to any online platforms.
Spoken word event
On Saturday, 18 July, there will be a spoken word event. To celebrate both the Poetry Competition and the Poetry Trail, we invite entrants to come along and read their poems.
How to enter
One poem per person.
All entries must be received by Sunday 31 May 2026.
- The competition theme is open.
- Entries should be up to 35 lines in length (including line spaces).
- Entries should be written in Arial 14 pt font.
- Entries must be a Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf) file. We cannot accept entries in other formats.
A poetry trail document has been set up that you can access via Google Drive. Please note, this file will open as ‘view only’ and you will need to save your own copy to edit.
The format of this page is:
- 35 lines (including line spaces)
- Arial 14 pt
- Line spacing 1.15 pt
- Margins 2.54 cm
An example is shown below.
Whilst entry into the poetry trail is free, we encourage entrants to make a donation to Kirkstall Art Trail – £5 per poem is recommended. Your donations will support Kirkstall Art Trail to thrive.
Eligibility
- The Poetry Trail is open to all ages. However if you are under 18, you must have parental consent for your entry into the Poetry Trail and to these Terms and Conditions.
General
- The Poetry Trail is free to enter.
- Only one entry per person, unless agreed otherwise with Kirkstall Art Trail.
- You must submit your poem before the deadline on 31 May 2026
- By submitting your poem, you enter into an agreement that:
- it can be used for the purpose of the Poetry Trail.
- we can use it for relevant promotional purposes.
- without payment to you.
- without seeking your further approval.
- The promotions may include the use of your poem on the internet. We may store the poem in a digital format for this purpose.
- By agreeing, you are granting us a non-exclusive copyright license.
- By submitting your poem, you consent to Kirkstall Art Trail processing your personal data for the purpose of the Poetry Trail and as described in the Privacy Policy.
- The Poetry Trail is not a competition, and submissions will not be judged as such.
- Selection is made at the organisers’ discretion.
Poem
- The poem must be an original composition written by you.
- You must make sure that your work does not and will not infringe on any other copyright.
- You must make sure that no information contained in your work is untruthful or harmful.
- Poems must be written in English.
- Entries must be a Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf) file. We cannot accept entries in other formats.
Enter the Poetry Trail by uploading your poem using the application form below. Please make sure you have read the full Terms and Conditions before submitting your entry.