Aileen Shirra, Cumbernauld, Scotland has taken 1st prize in the Strokestown 2018 20:20 Competition, with a poem entitled 'Home Birth'.

20 photos, 20 Lines (or less..), 20 prizes and 20 years of Strokestown.

Help us Celebrate 20 Years of Strokestown Poetry Festivals!

It may be hard to believe, but 2018 marks the 20th International Poetry Festival in Strokestown, making it one of Ireland’s longest running literary get-togethers.

The Festival takes place over May Bank Holiday Weekend, from May 3rd to 7th 2018, with an exciting programme of poetry-related events taking place in and around the town of Strokestown.

Three of the Festival’s annual poetry competitions are now closed, with the judges hard at work making their decisions. Two more annual competitions – the Roscommon Poets’ Prize and the Schools’ Competitions - get underway in January.

And while that’s all happening, we’ve introduced an EXTRA competition for poets to mark our 20th Festival, with a chance to win €100 and special place in Strokestown’s poetic history.

The idea is simple: writers are invited to view 20 picture prompts and, suitably inspired, create a new poem of 20 lines or less. The overall winner will get €100, and 19 runners up will each get a €20 prize. All winning poems will be displayed alongside the images during the Poetry Festival in May. Entry is just €3 per poem – and you may enter on-line as many times as you wish.

The judge is poet Noelle Lynskey who will read all entries. The closing date is February 9th, 2018. Good luck!

Rules:

* Each poem should be new and unpublished, inspired by one of the images below.
* Each poem can be in any style or format, but can be no more than 20 lines, written in English.

* Each entry costs €3 per poem, and you may enter as many times as you wish.
* Do not include personal information or identification on your poem. However, each photo has been assigned a number (Hover to view), please write that number at the top left hand corner of your entry, so that the judge knows which photo your poem refers to.

* All poems should be typed on an A4 page and uploaded as a single poem per upload.
* The closing date is February 9th, 2018. Winners will be notified by email ahead of the Festival in May.
* The judge’s decision is final.

* Copyright will remain with the competitor, but Strokestown Poetry Festival reserves the right to arrange publication or broadcast selected poems as it sees fit.

* You may only enter online.

Hover over or click a photo to view it's unique number..