The Red Shed Poetry Competition 2023
Red Shed Poetry Competition 2023
Generously sponsored by Mocca Moocho café, Cross Square, Wakefield
Sole adjudicator: Sarah Wimbush
Closing date: Friday 31st March, 2023
Prizes: 1st— £100 2nd—£50
Short listed poems - £20
Wakefield Postcode prize—£25
Entry fee: £3 for the first poem, £2 for subsequent poems.
Generously sponsored by Mocca Moocho café, Cross Square, Wakefield
Sole adjudicator: Sarah Wimbush
Closing date: Friday 31st March, 2023
Prizes: 1st— £100 2nd—£50
Short listed poems - £20
Wakefield Postcode prize—£25
Entry fee: £3 for the first poem, £2 for subsequent poems.
Rules for Entry
RULES FOR ENTRY: Please read and observe these rules carefully
· The competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over.
· Poems should be in English, they must not have been previously published, nor be currently submitted for publication elsewhere. Please do not submit poems with which the adjudicator may be familiar following readings or workshops.
· Poems must be the original work of the entrant, they must be typed on A4 paper and be no longer than 50 lines. Each poem must be on a separate sheet of paper which must not bear names or any other form of identification.
· Postal entries may be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope which will be used for priority notification of results and judge's comments.
Entries by post
· Entries must be accompanied by an appropriate entry fee: £3 for first entry, £2 for each poem subsequently entered.
Cheques (sterling only) must be made payable to Currock Press.
Postal entries should be sent to:
The Competition Organiser,
The Red Shed Open Poetry Competition,
3 Sandal Cliff,
Sandal,
Wakefield.
WF2 6AU
Please complete a cover sheet for your postal entries which includes titles of poems and your contact details. The one below can be
copied and pasted for that purpose.
Online entries
· We also accept poems via email. (Small surcharge. Sorry.) Such entries should have their PayPal payment number marked
clearly in the body of an email which also includes the poet's contact details and a list of titles of the entered poems.
The poems themselves should be on separate pages in one attachment. No identifying details on the poems
please.
So, in summary, one email with all details in the body of that email. One single attachment with all entered poems on separate sheets within that attachment.
Email entries to:
redshedpoetrycomp@btinternet.com
PayPal button available further down this page. Please choose the appropriate option from the drop down menu.
· Entries eligible for the Wakefield postcode prize should be marked with a W in the top right-hand corner.
· We regret that we are unable to return poems or enter into any correspondence with entrants.
· The adjudicator’s decision is final.
· The closing date is Friday 31st March, 2023.
· Once again, we hope to hold a presentation event in Mocca Moocho cafe towards the end of May. Details to be confirmed.
· Copyright remains with the authors but Red Shed Readings reserves the right to print winning and highly commended poems.
Find out what Sarah Wimbush is looking for here.
· The competition is open to anyone aged 16 or over.
· Poems should be in English, they must not have been previously published, nor be currently submitted for publication elsewhere. Please do not submit poems with which the adjudicator may be familiar following readings or workshops.
· Poems must be the original work of the entrant, they must be typed on A4 paper and be no longer than 50 lines. Each poem must be on a separate sheet of paper which must not bear names or any other form of identification.
· Postal entries may be accompanied by a stamped addressed envelope which will be used for priority notification of results and judge's comments.
Entries by post
· Entries must be accompanied by an appropriate entry fee: £3 for first entry, £2 for each poem subsequently entered.
Cheques (sterling only) must be made payable to Currock Press.
Postal entries should be sent to:
The Competition Organiser,
The Red Shed Open Poetry Competition,
3 Sandal Cliff,
Sandal,
Wakefield.
WF2 6AU
Please complete a cover sheet for your postal entries which includes titles of poems and your contact details. The one below can be
copied and pasted for that purpose.
Online entries
· We also accept poems via email. (Small surcharge. Sorry.) Such entries should have their PayPal payment number marked
clearly in the body of an email which also includes the poet's contact details and a list of titles of the entered poems.
The poems themselves should be on separate pages in one attachment. No identifying details on the poems
please.
So, in summary, one email with all details in the body of that email. One single attachment with all entered poems on separate sheets within that attachment.
Email entries to:
redshedpoetrycomp@btinternet.com
PayPal button available further down this page. Please choose the appropriate option from the drop down menu.
· Entries eligible for the Wakefield postcode prize should be marked with a W in the top right-hand corner.
· We regret that we are unable to return poems or enter into any correspondence with entrants.
· The adjudicator’s decision is final.
· The closing date is Friday 31st March, 2023.
· Once again, we hope to hold a presentation event in Mocca Moocho cafe towards the end of May. Details to be confirmed.
· Copyright remains with the authors but Red Shed Readings reserves the right to print winning and highly commended poems.
Find out what Sarah Wimbush is looking for here.
Click to set
Financial Assistance |
This year, thanks to a generous sponsor, we are able to offer six free, two poem entries. i.e. six x £5 entries for anyone who feels that without such support they would not be able to take part in the competition. Anyone hoping to take advantage of this offer must first request a code from the competition organiser. The code should then be included on the cover sheet of their entry. You will not be expected to make a case for your request nor will any further mention be made of the support. Codes will be given out on a first come first served basis.
Competition organiser: redshedpoetrycomp@btinternet.com
Competition organiser: redshedpoetrycomp@btinternet.com
Entry Form Either copy and paste the template below into a Word document or create your own sheet with
these details
The Red Shed Open Poetry Competition 2023 Entry Form
Titles of Poems submitted:
1. ___________________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________
I enclose a cheque (payable to Currock Press) for the sum of £_________
Name: ______________________________________________________
Address: _____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
email address: _________________________________________________
PayPal payment number: _________________________________________
The Red Shed Poetry Competition 2022 results
1st Prize: Swimmer, Mike Brown, Middlesborough
2nd Prize: Merge, Mark Totterdell, Exeter
Highly Commended:
Eliza Save yourself from Higgins run, Jane Burn, Consett
Smelling Onions, Sue Norton, York
Let us give thanks for our knees, Susan Utting, Wokingham
Castellamare Del Golfo, Rosie Rockel, London
Taking the long way home, Kathleen Strafford, Leeds
Wakefield Postcode Poem
(Presented here in alphabetical order. The winner will be announced at the awards event on Sunday 29th May)
Leaves, Keith Brindle
Lost in the rhubarb triangle, Tim Brookes
On the importance of crockery, Lisa Falshaw
Round the next corner, Lisa Falshaw
Standing alone, Judy Rylance
Angelica, Jack Senior
Previous Red Shed Poetry Competition Results
Red Shed Poetry Competition 2021 Results. Congratulations to all of the poets listed below in our winners and commended entrants list for this year's competition.
Overall winner:
Roy McFarlane, Nanny of the Black Country wearing Converse All Stars
Second place:
John Gallas, Ruffled
Commended poets in alphabetical order:
M Lee Alexander, International Date Line
Jane Burn, Mrs/Mother Hail
Pat Edwards, On finding a flea trapped in her tights whilst at the photocopier
Noel King, Dust
Dave Simpson, A shielding dairy, Monday March 30 - 'and that's your news at twenty one minutes past six'
Wakefield W postcode shortlist in alphabetical order
Jo Brandon, En Suite
Clare Crossdale, Shared Threads
Lisa Falshaw, When all this is over
John Foggin, Half Term 21 October, 1966
John Foggin, Constant
Judy Rylance, The Sounds of Silence
195 poets entered the competition submitting a total of 460 poems all of which were read by this year's judge, Emma Purshouse to whom we express our thanks and deep appreciation.
Overall winner:
Roy McFarlane, Nanny of the Black Country wearing Converse All Stars
Second place:
John Gallas, Ruffled
Commended poets in alphabetical order:
M Lee Alexander, International Date Line
Jane Burn, Mrs/Mother Hail
Pat Edwards, On finding a flea trapped in her tights whilst at the photocopier
Noel King, Dust
Dave Simpson, A shielding dairy, Monday March 30 - 'and that's your news at twenty one minutes past six'
Wakefield W postcode shortlist in alphabetical order
Jo Brandon, En Suite
Clare Crossdale, Shared Threads
Lisa Falshaw, When all this is over
John Foggin, Half Term 21 October, 1966
John Foggin, Constant
Judy Rylance, The Sounds of Silence
195 poets entered the competition submitting a total of 460 poems all of which were read by this year's judge, Emma Purshouse to whom we express our thanks and deep appreciation.
Dear Poet,
The Red Shed Poetry Competition 2020
Thank you for entering, and thereby supporting, this year’s Red Shed Poetry Competition. The results are listed below.
Winner: Thompson Street, Gail Mosley, Leeds.
Runner up: Nine Pairs of Shoes and a Jacket, Viv Longley, Wakefield.
Highly Commended: Ashes, Margaret Whellams, Taunton
A Trick of The Trade, John Foggin, Wakefield
Mature Women, Coralie Ruston, Salisbury
Wakefield Postcode Poem: Muheera, Deborah Robinson
WPP Special mention: Pontefract Cake, Jo Brandon
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Keith Brindle
In total, 237 poems were entered and these are the comments of James Nash our judge for this year’s competition:
“This poetry competition was a complete joy to judge, from love poems, to poems rooted in place and time, to philosophical journeyings into life and mortality. I read them all at least twice, some more than that. I read them aloud so that I could hear how they worked with the human voice and I relished how so many of them resonated in the airy room where I was working, and then I put them in piles on arms of sofas, on the floor and across a coffee table.
It looked like a literary car boot sale.
During the course of the next few days I went into the sitting room and read the bulk of them again. Some were becoming close friends. They pulled at me, asking me to reconnect with them. I thought about them on dog walks and bike rides. They had become part of me the reader, as all good writing does.
So, a hugely talented entry, many poems of high quality, and most important in these challenging times, showing great humanity.”
James Nash, April 2020’
Once again, our thanks to James and all of the poets who applied their time and talents to support the competition. Sadly, we will not be able to hold our awards event this year, nor will we be publishing a winner's booklet although the winning poems will appear soon on this site.
John Clarke
Competition Organiser
The Red Shed Poetry Competition 2019 Results
After sterling work by this year’s adjudicator, Tom Weir, we can now announce the results for this year’s Red Shed Poetry Competition.
1st. Lynda Turbet, Scapa
2nd. Marion Oxley, Deluge
Highly Commended:
Lydia Harris, The Book of St Margaret, Forfar
Neil Clarkson, Raffles Nightclub
The Wakefield Postcode W prize
The shortlisted poets for this prize are listed below:
Alan Braddock, The Fisher Boats Came to Wakefield
Keith Brindle, Gone
June Hurst, Plaintive Land
Alice O’Donnell, Time Running Out for the Ballet Stars
Deborah Robinson, Light
Deborah Robinson, I Ask Your Name
The announcement of the overall winner of the Wakefield prize will be made at our awards event at Mocca Moocho café, Cross Square, Wakefield on Sunday 26th May at 2.00pm. Admission for this event is free and everyone is cordially invited to attend but please contact me via the contact page on the Currock Press website www.currockpress.com to let me know how many places you would like.
Finally, congratulations if your name appears on the above list. If your poem hasn’t been selected this time then please accept my thanks for taking part in the competition. Not only does your entry support the Red Shed Readings in Wakefield but also other arts activities in Yorkshire which Currock Press has been able to support. So, once again, thank you very much and I hope you are intent upon entering again next year.
Best wishes,
John Irving Clarke
The Red Shed Poetry Competition 2019 Results
After sterling work by this year’s adjudicator, Tom Weir, we can now announce the results for this year’s Red Shed Poetry Competition.
1st. Lynda Turbet, Scapa
2nd. Marion Oxley, Deluge
Highly Commended:
Lydia Harris, The Book of St Margaret, Forfar
Neil Clarkson, Raffles Nightclub
The Wakefield Postcode W prize
The shortlisted poets for this prize are listed below:
Alan Braddock, The Fisher Boats Came to Wakefield
Keith Brindle, Gone
June Hurst, Plaintive Land
Alice O’Donnell, Time Running Out for the Ballet Stars
Deborah Robinson, Light
Deborah Robinson, I Ask Your Name
The announcement of the overall winner of the Wakefield prize will be made at our awards event at Mocca Moocho café, Cross Square, Wakefield on Sunday 26th May at 2.00pm. Admission for this event is free and everyone is cordially invited to attend but please contact me via the contact page on the Currock Press website www.currockpress.com to let me know how many places you would like.
Finally, congratulations if your name appears on the above list. If your poem hasn’t been selected this time then please accept my thanks for taking part in the competition. Not only does your entry support the Red Shed Readings in Wakefield but also other arts activities in Yorkshire which Currock Press has been able to support. So, once again, thank you very much and I hope you are intent upon entering again next year.
Best wishes,
John Irving Clarke
The Red Shed Poetry Competition 2018 Results
Winner: A Loss of Eden, Graham Burchell, Devon.
Second place: On Dissecting the Pellet of an Owl, Jane Burn, County Durham
Commended Poets (in alphabetical order):
Alison Carter, Cockermouth, U: The Yorkshire Vowel Depth Championships
Ion Corcos, New South Wales, Self Portrait with Suitcase
Hilaire, London, The Sheffield Man
Nigel King, Huddersfield, The Octopus Dreams on its Skin
Sue Norton, York, Sitting in a Lebanese Café
Wakefield postcode poets (Winner to be declared at the Awards event)
Keith Brindle, Horbury, I’d Like a Brexit with my Mug of Tea
John Dart, Crofton, Things Can Change
John Dart, Crofton, All the Sounds They Cannot Hear
Angela de Courcy Bower, Wakefield, The Home
Rupert Martin, Sandal, A Path of Grit
Rupert Martin, Sandal, Perhaps Prayer
Laura Potts, Wakefield, The Picture in Ireland
