Thank you for submitting. We are looking for 18 new poems for a special Christmas pamphlet coming out at the start of December 2025. Poems should ideally fit onto one page of A5, but we can consider longer poems.
Poems can be Christmas or winter themed - or just tangentially related to the season!
We look forward to reading your submissions.
Poems should be ubpublished. If you aren't sure whether a poem is eligible, then email us at poems@livecanon.co.uk
Thank you for submitting your work.
Poems must be written predominantly in English.
Poems can be of any length.
You may enter as many poems as you like, at the same time, or in separate submissions.
Poems must not have been previously published. If you aren't sure whether a poem is eligible, feel free to email us for guidance - poems@livecanon.co.uk
Please do not include your name on your poem, so all poems can be considered anonymously.
50 poems will be longlisted and published in our annual anthology.
15 poems will be shortlisted and performed at our annual prize-giving event.
The overall winner will be awarded a £1000 prize.
The entry fee money covers the administration of the competition and prize money, the guest judge's fee, the publishing of the prize anthology... and, if there's anything left it goes towards the children's competition we run (for which there isn't any entry fee, obviously!)
1 poem - £7
2 poems - £13
3 poem - £18
5 poems - £30
10 poems - £50
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us via www.livecanon.co.uk
Thank you for submitting your work.
Poems must be on the theme of '100'. We are publishing an anthology to celebrate having published one hundred books!
Poems must be written predominantly in English.
Poems can be of any length.
You may enter as many poems as you like, at the same time, or in separate submissions.
Poems must not have been previously published. If you aren't sure whether a poem is eligible, feel free to email us for guidance - poems@livecanon.co.uk
Please do not include your name on your poem, so all poems can be considered anonymously.
We will choose 100 poems for the anthology. There's no fee to enter, but we are an unfunded not-for-profit poetry press, so please consider helping us to continue by ordering a book here, or from our store: https://www.livecanon.co.uk/store
This competition is for full collections.
There is a category for FIRST collections, and a category for SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT collections.
We consider a collection to be 35+ poems, but if the poems are particularly long (or short) please use your judgment. A collection is generally over 40 A5 pages. Less than that would be a pamphlet/chapbook (we also run a pamphlet/chapbook competition, so do take a look at that).
The collection should not have been published before. It is fine if individual poems within the collection have already been published elsewhere (journals, magazines, online) but please flag this up at the start of the manuscript.
If you are unsure whether your collection is eligible, please get in touch via our website: www.livecanon.co.uk
You may enter more than once.
All work must be, predominantly, in the English language. All work must be original.
Please do not include your name on your manuscript, so it an be judged anonymously.
6 books will be long listed in the FIRST COLLECTION category, and 6 books will be long listed in the SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT COLLECTION category.
3 books will win a publication contract with Live Canon. If you'd like to find out more about books published by Live Canon visit our website: http://www.livecanon.co.uk/store
There is a an entry fee of £14 for each manuscript. To be absolutely transparent, this contributes to the cost of running the competition and to publication of the winning books. We are a small independent not-for-profit with no regular funding.
This is a competition for pamphlets of between 18 and 24 poems.
(This is based on average length poems - if your poems are much longer or shorter, please use your judgment and feel free to submit more or less.)
If you are unsure whether your manuscript is eligible, don't hesitate to contact us via our website at www.livecanon.co.uk
You may enter more than once.
Poems must be predominantly written in the English language.
The poems may not have been previously published/self-published as a collection. It is fine if individual poems have appeared in magazines, anthologies or been placed in prizes. Please put a note at the start or end of the manuscript which flags up where poems have already been published.
Please do not include your name on your manuscript, so all entries can be considered anonymously.
10 pamphlets will be long listed and 3 pamphlets will be selected for publication by the Live Canon Poetry Press.
There is an entry fee of £10 per pamphlet. To be absolutely transparent, this contributes to the cost of running the competition and to publication. We are a small independent publishing company with no regular funding.