Judge: Mike Jenkins

£1,000 First Prize, 2nd £300, 3rd £100, 4 commended poems £25 each

All poems – winning or otherwise – will be considered for publication in the next edition of Red Poets

Entry fee 

£5 for the first poem £8 for two poems £10 for three poems

All entry fees will support literacy and education in Uganda

General rules

The competition is open to anyone in any part of the world aged 16 or over at the time of entry.

Poems must be written in English. They can be on any subject but must not exceed 40 lines (excluding the title).

The copyright of each poem remains with the author. Poems must be your original work, be previously unpublished in any format and may not be entered into any other competition until the results of this competition are announced.

Alterations cannot be made to poems once entered.

Entries will not be returned, so please keep a copy.

The closing submission date of the competition is midnight (UK time) on 30th September 2023.

Winners will be announced in November 2023.

How to enter

After paying your entry fee, compose an email to admin@triouganda.org

In the email, please include:

– your name, address, and telephone contact number (collected for competition use only)

– the title of all entered poems

– the date of PayPal payment and the name of the payee

Attach your poem as a Word or PDF document in A4 format

Additional poems may be submitted in the same document, but each must be on a separate page.

All poems are judged anonymously. Do not include your name or any other personal details on your attached document. The correct entry fee must be paid via the PayPal donate button on the competition page. You do not need to have a PayPal account. Leave the Gift Aid section blank. A poem will not be judged without receipt of the correct entry fee (i.e., £5 for the first poem; £8 for two poems; £10 for three poems). Confirmation of submission will be sent to the entrant’s email address. Please check your spam folder. There may be a short delay as confirmation is done manually.

Competition administrator

Jon Sait, founder of Trio Uganda

Winner of the 2004 National Poetry Competition