George Crabbe Poetry Competition Entry 2027

Description

 

 

We are delighted to welcome Elisabeth Sennitt-Clough as our adjudicator for the 2027 George Crabbe Poetry Competition.

Elisabeth Sennitt-Clough grew up in the Cambridgeshire Fens, England. She is a crime novelist and poet whose work explores landscape, power and psychological inheritance.

Her poetry collections include Sightings, At or Below Sea Level, The Cold Store, My Name is Abilene and Sidewinder (forthcoming November 2026), and a pamphlet Glass. Her debut novel is Shadow Sister.

Glass won the inaugural Paper Swans Pamphlet Competition and the 2017 Saboteur Award for Best Pamphlet; Sightings, her debut full collection, written during her MFA at ManMet, which was awarded the Michael Schmidt Prize for Best Portfolio (a poem from Sightings was also highly commended in the Forward Prize and published in the Forward Book of Poetry 2018). Elisabeth’s second full collection, At or Below Sea Level, is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and a poem from the book won the 2018 Shooter Literary Magazine Poetry Prize. A poem from her third collection The Cold Store was highly commended in the Forward Prize and published in the Forward Book of Poetry 2022. Elisabeth’s fourth full collection My Name is Abilene was shortlisted for the 2023 Forward Prize best collection and is a Poetry Book Society Selection, autumn 2023. Elisabeth’s fifth collection, Sidewinder, is forthcoming in November 2026 from Salt Publishing. Sidewinder received a Society of Authors grant. Three poems from this new collection were recently published in Pennine Platform. Elisabeth’s debut novel, Shadow Sister, is published by Holand Press. In 2025 it was longlisted for the Jenny Brown Associates Prize.

First Prize: £500
Second Prize: £250
Third Prize: £100
plus
Two Highly Commended Prizes of £50

All winning poems (including commended poems not attracting a monetary prize) will be read, preferably by their authors, at a celebratory Awards Event on Saturday, 15 May 2027 at the 12th Festival of Suffolk Poetry.

Competition Rules

• Entrants should either have been born, or educated, currently work or be resident in Suffolk, Norfolk or Essex or be a current member of Suffolk Poetry Society.
• Poems should be in English and a maximum of 40 lines.
• Poems must be the writer’s own work, not AI-generated, not published, broadcast, on a website, or currently entered in any other competition.
• Postal submission: Each poem must be typed twice on separate pages and submitted with the fee. The poet’s name must appear on only one copy of each poem.
• Online submission: Each poem must be uploaded twice, on two pages of a single file and submitted with the fee. If entering more than one poem, put them all in the same document.
• The poet’s name must appear on one copy only of each poem.
• The adjudicator’s decision is final.
• No entrant can win more than one monetary prize.
• Only winners will be notified. Winners will be listed on the website.
• The Press may also be notified of the winning poets and poems.
• Copyright of the poem remains with the poet, with permission to Suffolk Poetry Society to publish any winning poem free of charge.

Entry fees: £5 for each poem.

Closing date: Midnight Friday, 22 January 2027.

To enter, please complete the following items and change the ‘Add to Basket’ quantity to the number of poems you are entering.

Whether you are entering one or several poems, please read this carefully and prepare your poem(s) as described before starting to enter.

1. Put two copies of each of your poems into one document. Trying to upload each copy in separate documents will not work.
2. Put each poem on a separate page (Hint: In Word use Insert->Pages->Page Break to separate them).
3. Ensure that your name appears against only one copy of each poem. I.e. One copy of each poem must be anonymous.
4. (Optional step) If you wish, save it as a PDF to preserve any complex formatting.
5. Use the Browse… or Choose File… button (depends on computer type) below to find and upload your document.
6. Set the basket quantity to the number of poems. E.g. if you are entering two poems, your basket will show 2.
7. Select your qualification to enter the competition.
8. Show your agreement with the competition rules.
9. If ‘Pay with link’ appears, this is because you have previously saved your details with Stripe, or you will be able to do so. You may pay using that, or select ‘Add to Basket’ and you will be taken to the checkout where you can pay with Stripe, PayPal, cheque or BACS.