The Plaza Poetry Prize (40 lines)

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

40 lines max.

Poems up to 40 lines. No theme. On whatever subject fascinates you. You can write less if you want to, but you have 40 lines to express yourself fully and catch the eye of our judge, Moniza Alvi.

Moniza was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and came to England when she was a few months old. She grew up in Hertfordshire and studied at the universities of York and London.

Peacock Luggage, a book of poems by Moniza Alvi and Peter Daniels, was published as a result of the two poets jointly winning the Poetry Business Prize in 1991. Since then, Moniza Alvi has written 10 poetry collections, three of which have been shortlisted for the coveted TS Eliot Prize.

The Country at My Shoulder (1993) was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Poetry Award. A Bowl of Warm Air (1996), one of The Independent on Sunday‘s Books of the Year. Carrying My Wife (2000), a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. Europa (2008), a Poetry Book Society Choice and shortlisted for the TS Eliot prize. At the Time of Partition (2013) a Poetry Book Society Choice, shortlisted for the 2013 TS Eliot Prize, and won the East Anglian Writers Prize for poetry.

Moniza was a co-founder of The Poetry School, and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2023. She has judged many prizes and was Chair of the 2015 T.S. Eliot Prize. So, send Moniza your poems. To be shortlisted in the Top 10, will get you published in The Plaza Prizes Anthology 2, and to win is worth much more than the £1000 prize money.

The Prizes

First Prize: £1000

Second Prize: £300

Third Place: £100

Top 10

The 10 shortlisted entries will be published in The Plaza Prizes Anthology 2, which will be launched at our awards ceremony in 2024.

Terms and Conditions

Rules

Rules

Deadline: 31st May 2024
Writers can enter any number of times. (£11.00 Subsequent entry: £5.50)
Poems can be in any style or form, but must be in English, and written for adults.
Entries must be submitted online. 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, entry fees will not be refunded. (You will have to enter again.)

Eligibility

Read the rules carefully before entering the competition. 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, twitter handle etc on the document or in the file name or it will be disqualified.

Entries will be disqualified if they are over the 40 line limit, and there will be no refund.

Entries must be original, entirely your own work. No co-writing. Plagiarised or AI-generated work will be disqualified, and this disqualification may extend to any future competitions. (We must now use AI to check.)

Entries must NOT have been published traditionally because we will publish the 10 shortlisted in our 2nd anthology. Self-published poems ARE eligible for entry.

Entries must NOT have won in any other competition. If your entry was long-listed or shortlisted in other competitions it IS eligible.

Simultaneous submissions are allowed but if an entry wins a prize elsewhere, is published or scheduled for future publication, prior to the date of prize giving, you must inform us to withdraw immediately. Entry fees will not be refunded.

Length

Maximum 40 lines.

Fees

£11.00 per poem. (Subsequent entry: £5.50)

Entries must be submitted online via Submittable. No email or snail-mail submissions.

Format

Entries must be typed in 12 pt font, SINGLE, 1.5, or DOUBLE-spaced. The poem’s title should top the first page. (Any minor formatting issues will not lead to disqualification. PLease just make sure your work is as easy to read as possible.)
Save as a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx) or PDF file with the title as the file name. Do not include your name in the file name as this will lead to disqualification.
Max 2MB file. Include the line count for the poem, top right, first page.
Do not add cover pages.
No illustrated work.

Judging

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 publish poems in an anthology and use extracts from any of the 10 shortlisted poems for publicity purposes.

Results & Awards

The Poetry 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd prize-winners will be announced on the website and social media in August 2024. The 10 short-listed entries will be published in The Plaza Prizes Anthology 2, which will be launched at our awards ceremony in 2024.

Bursary Scheme

In 2023-2024, we will again be offering 100 FREE ENTRY BURSARIES across all our competitions to poets on low incomes, and from underrepresented 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: hello@theplazaprizes.com