The Plaza Audio Poetry Prize

1st prize: £1000. 2nd prize: £300. 3rd prize: £100

4 minutes max.

Audio poems up to 4 minutes long. Written by you. Read by you. Recorded on an audio file by you. Sent to us to listen to. Audio Poetry. On whatever subject fascinates you. Express yourself fully. That’s right: we want your poem, read in your voice.

You don’t have to be a performance poet or a voice-over artist to read your work aloud and record it on your phone. The Plaza Prizes is on the lookout for new talents in new digital forms. Try it, write a poem this week. Edit it. Let it rest. Return, to give it shape over time by reading it out loud. Again. And again. Allow your voice to give it form. Then, when it’s ready, record it, transform it into an audio poem, and enter the audio file of that one poem into this competition.

Our judge, Anthony Joseph, is a multi-award-winning poet, writer and broadcaster. He was awarded the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry for Sonnets For Albert in 2022. He is a judge for the T.S. Eliot Prizes in 2024.

Anthony has written five poetry collections and three novels. His 2018 novel Kitch: A Fictional Biography of a Calypso Icon was shortlisted for the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Royal Society of Literature’s Encore Award and the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Fiction. His most recent fiction publication is the experimental novel The Frequency of Magic. In 2019, he was awarded a Jerwood Compton Poetry Fellowship. As a musician, he has released eight critically acclaimed albums, and in 2020 received a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Composers Award.

So, send Anthony your audio poems, recorded in your own voice on an iPhone, Android phone, or by using a free recording programme, like Audacity. Audio Poetry is a new and exciting literary field to experiment in. We’ll feature the shortlisted entries and winners on our website, and in an exciting new audio anthology.

The Prizes

First Prize: £1000 / $1200

Second Prize: £300 / $360

Third Place: £100 / 120

Top 10

The 10 shortlisted entries will be featured on the The Plaza Prizes Audio Anthology 1 in 2025.

Terms and Conditions

Rules

Rules

Open for entries: 1st February 2024
Deadline: 30th June 2025
Poets can enter any number of times, in separate submissions. (£12.00. Subsequent entry: £9.00)
Audio poems can be in any style or form, but must be in English, and written for adults.
Entries must be submitted via Submittable. No email submissions. In exceptional circumstances, postal entry may be accepted, as long as a cheque, made out for the correct entry fee, is sent to The Plaza Prizes Ltd. (Postal address is on Contact Form.)
Enter the correct version of your work. If you make a mistake, sorry, but entry fees will not be refunded. (You will have to enter again.)

Eligibility

Please read the rules carefully before entering The Plaza Audio Poetry Prize. Entry implies acceptance of all the rules and failure to comply will result in disqualification.

All entries are judged anonymously. Please do not include your name, address, phone number, email, website, X/Twitter handle etc in the audio file or it will be disqualified.

Entries will be disqualified if they are over the 4 minute limit, and there will be no refund.

Entries must be entirely your own work.

Audio Poetry entries CAN have been previously published traditionally in written form. Self-published poems ARE also eligible for entry, in the new form of audio poems.

Entries must NOT have won in any other Audio Poetry competition.

Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but if an entry wins a prize elsewhere, you must inform us to withdraw immediately. Entry fees will not be refunded.

Length

Maximum 4 minutes (one poem).

Fees

£12.00 per poem. (Subsequent entry: £9.00)

Entries must be submitted online via Submittable. No email submissions.

Format

Entries must be in an audio file format.
Read the title, then the poem. Please do not include your name as this will lead to disqualification.
Do not submit more than one audio poem per entry.

Judging

You can record your audio poem using your phone or by using a FREE recording programme, like Audacity, which you can download for FREE at: www.audacityteam.com There are many other options, but whatever means you use, try to make the quality of the recording the best you can. This will help the judges listen to your work.

The judges’ decision is final. No individual correspondence can be entered into. Judges are unable to comment on individual entries. The Plaza Prizes reserves the right to change the judge without notice.

Copyright

Copyright remains with the author, but The Plaza Prizes reserves the right to feature any of the 10 shortlisted audio poems for publicity purposes.

Results & Awards

The Audio Poetry 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd prize-winners will be announced on the website and social media in August 2025. The 10 short-listed entries will be featured on The Plaza Prizes Audio Anthology.

Bursary Scheme

In 2023-24, we are offering FREE ENTRY bursaries across all our competitions to writers on low incomes, and from under-represented groups. You can apply for a bursary if low income, class, race, age, gender, sexuality, caring responsibilities, location, disability, or mental and physical health affects your writing. We want to encourage equality to discover quality new writing from diverse voices. Click here to apply for our Bursary Scheme.

Finally

The Plaza Prizes reserves the right to amend the rules where it deems necessary. Any changes to the rules will be posted on our website.

If you have a query about eligibility, please contact: simon@theplazaprizes.com