Frosted Fire Single-poem Competition 2023

A clock, counting down the seconds – to what? A lover’s meeting or Armageddon? The arrival/departure of a family pet, exam results, a house move? Taking a special meal out of the oven? Finding a remedy for climate change, disease, or personal issues? Will the subject matter of your poem be resolved before the witching hour? Is it a countdown to disaster? We can’t wait to hear from you.

Our judges will be open to all forms of poetry whether it be rhymed or blank, light or serious, structured or free. They consider content and originality before form. Entries are welcome from anywhere in the world, and we hope that this year will pass last year’s record number of countries from which competitors originated.

Judges’ names and entry forms will be available here by the end of April, and entries will be welcome from then until 30 September

Cash prizes for the winners are £350, £150 , £75, and 3 highly commended prizes of £25.

Poems from all prizewinners, short list, and long list poets, along with audio of their poet reading them, will be included in an online anthology.

In November, we shall honour all successful poets in International Winners Reading Events on Zoom at times to fit all time zones. The prizewinners, shortlisted poets, and judges will read on that occasion, and then their poems and audio will be added to the anthology. Click here to reserve a free place at the Winners Event.

Every Breath single-poem competition 2022 — online anthology

Transformation single-poem competition 2021 — online anthology

Wild words single-poem competition 2020

The judging team will read every entry, and long-listed and short-listed entries will each be read by at lead two judges.

The final list of prize winners and highly commended poets will be decided by a leading judge who will write an adjudication showing why the prizewinning poems deserve their accolade. This will, no doubt, be interesting reading, as did the adjudication for the first Frosted Fire single-poem competition in 2020.

All entries presented to the judges are anonymous. Our entry system automatically sends only the actual poems to the judges. Details of author and payment details are stored in a separate administration database, filed under the title of each poem. The administration database is locked until after all judging is complete, when the names of successful poets are linked with their poem titles.

Rules for Ticking Clock competition 2023

Closing date: 30 September 2023

• The contest is open to all poets, except those who act as volunteers for Wildfire Words/Frosted Fire.
• All poems must be entirely the entrant’s own, unpublished work.
• International entrants are welcome, but entries must be in English. Translations are not allowed, unless the poet has translated their own poetry into English.
• You may submit as many poems as you like, in batches of up to 4 poems. Each poem should be a separate file, and an entry fee must be paid for each.
• Each poem’s title should be at the top of the page, and the file name of the poem must be the poem’s title.
• Each poem should be in one file in Word or PDF, and no longer than 70 lines, not counting title or stanza break lines.
• Do not put any identification on the work. We will match your entry title to your email address after the anonymous judging is complete.
• To maintain anonymous judging, your entry must not contain a poem that might be recognized by any of the judges through workshops, mentoring, or public readings.
• Simultaneous submissions are accepted, but an entry must be withdrawn in the event of it winning a prize or publication elsewhere. Entry fees are not refundable once an entry has been received.
• Work will not be returned, so please keep a copy.
• We are unable to give feedback on individual entries or on the results of the competition — the judges’ decisions are final.
• Results will be emailed by late October to all who entered, and published on this website and social media.
• The entry fee is £4 per poem, or £12 for 4.
• Entries must be paid for on the entry form, and your entry file uploaded, by the closing time of 11.59 pm on 30 September 2022.