Hampshire Young Poets

Hampshire Young Poets is an annual competition run by Hampshire Cultural Trust and the Winchester Poetry Festival. It aims to inspire creativity and encourage a love of poetry, writing and words in young people across Hampshire. 

Theme for Hampshire Young Poets 2025: Friendship

“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends.” 

Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

In 2025, people across the world are celebrating the birthday of Hampshire author Jane Austen, who was born 250 years ago. Jane had many friends and often wrote about friendship in her novels. Inspired by Jane, her life and the stories she wrote, you are invited to explore the theme of ‘Friendship’ – we want to read about what friendship and your friends mean to you. Write a poem of no more than 14 lines and send it to us for a chance to be one of the winning poets announced at the awards ceremony on Saturday 11 October 2025 at The Arc, Winchester.

The competition is open to young people who live or study in Hampshire in three age categories:

4 to 7 years | 8 to 11 years | 12 to 16 years

The first, second and third placed poems in each age category will each receive a prize. Certificates will be awarded to three commended poems and three poems with the best line in each age category. 

Competition closing date: Monday 30 June 2025

Prizes

Our prizes are sponsored by Paris Smith and P&G Wells book shop in Winchester.

First prize in each category

£50 National Book Token, plus £50 P&G Wells book token for your school or education provider

Second prize in each category

£25 National Book Token, plus £25 P&G Wells book token for your school or education provider

Third prize in each category

£10 National Book Token, plus £10 P&G Wells book token for your school or education provider

How to enter 

You can enter online or by post.

Online 

It’s easy to enter online, all you need to do is submit your poem here:

https://hampshireculturaltrust.typeform.com/to/I17RGwNg

By post 

Please write your name and the title of your poem on the back of your entry. When you send your poem, please include a separate piece of paper with your name, an email address, contact number, address and your age at time of submitting your entry, as well as a contact name and email address for your school or education provider. Please also tell us where you heard about the competition. 

Please send your entry to:

Hampshire Young Poets 2025 
Hampshire Cultural Trust
Chilcomb House
Chilcomb Lane
Winchester,
Hampshire SO23 8RB

Please note that if you send your entry by post we are unable to send confirmation that we have received it.

Competition Rules

• The competition is open to any young person in the three specified age categories who lives or studies in Hampshire

• Entry is free

• Entries can be submitted online or by post

• The poem should be no longer than 14 lines, in English, be the entrant’s own work and should not have been published elsewhere, including online, and not have won any other competition. You may enter more than one poem if you wish

• Closing date is midnight GMT 30 June 2025

• No changes can be made once entries have been submitted

• The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

• The winners will be contacted by email or post and announced at a ceremony at The Arc, Winchester, on Saturday 11 October 2025. Unfortunately, we are unable to contact entrants who have not been successful