Kirkstall Art Trail 2026 Poetry Competition

Entry into the Kirkstall Art Trail 2026 Poetry Competition and Leeds Poetry Prize is £4 per poem and is not refundable. You can make multiple submissions.

All money received goes towards supporting Kirkstall Art Trail to thrive.

All entries must be received by Sunday 31 May 2026.

• The competition theme is open; there is no set theme.
• Entries should be up to 40 lines in length (excluding the title).
• Entries should be in a standard 12 pt font, such as Arial.
• Do not include your name on your entry, its title, or filename
• Entries must be a Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf) file. We cannot accept entries in other formats.
• The poems will be judged blind.

Eligibility

• This competition is open to UK residents aged 18 or over.
• A resident of Leeds is defined as living at an address in any postcode areas beginning with LS.
• Poems must not have been published, self-published, published on a website, broadcast, been placed first, second or third, or been awarded a prize in any other competition.
• Work that has been produced, enhanced or edited by ChatGPT or any other AI creation tool will be disqualified. Use of AI is restricted to basic spelling and grammar checks only.

General

• You must submit your poem before the deadline on Sunday 31 May 2026. Submissions will not be accepted after the closing date.
• By submitting your poem, you enter into an agreement that:
  • it can be used for the purpose of the ‘Kirkstall Art Trail Poetry Competition 2026’. 
  • 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 photo in a digital format for this purpose.
• By agreeing, you are granting us a non-exclusive copyright licence.
• By submitting your poem, you consent to Kirkstall Art Trail processing your personal data for the purpose of the ‘Kirkstall Art Trail Poetry Competition 2026’ and as described in the Privacy Policy.

Poem

• The poem must be original and 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.
• Nothing must appear on any page which would identify the author.
• The file name must be the title of your poem.
• Do not include your name in the file name.
• Entries must be a Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf) file. We cannot accept entries in other formats.
• Hard copy entries will not be accepted.

Entry fee

• The entry fee is £4 per poem.
• Fees paid cover prizes and printing costs, and all profits go towards the running costs of the Kirkstall Art Trail.
• Entry fees will not be returned in the event that a poem is disqualified.

Competitions and Prizes

• The winner of the Kirkstall Art Trail National Poetry Competition will receive £30.
• The winner of the Kirkstall Art Trail LS Poetry Prize will receive £20.
• A poem can only win one of the above prizes.
• The two prizewinning and eight shortlisted poems from the competition will be published in an anthology, after the results have been announced.

Judging

• No correspondence can take place regarding the results.
• All entries will be considered anonymously by the judge.
• Selection is made at the organisers’ discretion and is final.

You can submit and pay for entries using the entry form below. Please make sure you have read the full Terms and Conditions before submitting your entry.