Fenland Poet Laureate Award
The 2025 Fenland Poet Laureate Award is now open for entries!
The deadline for submissions is Friday 31 January 2025.
The Fenland Poet Laureate Award is an esteemed annual competition that seeks to discover and crown the next Poet Laureate for the Fenland district.
Now in its seventh year, the award is recognised as one of the most prestigious literary accolades in Cambridgeshire.
Spearheaded by award-winning poet Elisabeth Sennitt Clough, who also serves as Chair of the Fenland District Council's Culture, Arts, and Heritage Committee, the competition is organised in partnership with Fenland District Council.
Work from poets at every stage of their writing careers is welcome. All entries are read through an anonymised shortlisting and judging process, with judges only discovering the identity of writers after making their final decision. The competition has recognised previously unpublished newcomers, established names, and emerging talents.
The winning poet is awarded the honorary title of Fenland Poet Laureate, gaining a platform to showcase and share their work and the opportunity to represent and promote Fenland poetry throughout their year in the role.
A young people's poetry award, for ages 17 and under, runs alongside the main competition, the winner of whom will be crowned the 2025 Young Fenland Poet Laureate.
Both awards are free to enter.
Entry criteria
The competition is open to anyone who lives, works or attends school in the administrative district of Fenland.
Applicants must be aged 18 and over for the Fenland Poet Laureate Award, and aged 17 and under for the Young Fenland Poet Laureate Award.
How to enter
- Poems must be no longer than 40 lines, the entrant's own work and previously unpublished.
- Poems may be in free verse or stricter form.
- There is no set theme, although entries should reference Fenland in some way, either subtly through imagery or more directly about life in Fenland, for example.
- Only one entry per poet.
Submit your entry for the 2025 Fenland Poet Laureate Award
Alternatively, send your entry to: poetaward@fenland.gov.uk
Judging process
Competition entries will be shortlisted by members of Fenland District Council's Culture, Arts and Heritage (CAH) Committee.
Shortlisted submissions will be judged by award-winning poet and CAH committee Chair, Cllr Elisabeth Sennitt Clough, and the 2024 Fenland Poet Laureate, Hannah Teasdale.
Cllr Elisabeth Sennitt Clough Biography
Elisabeth Sennitt Clough, Ph.D, MA, BA, is the author of Glass (Saboteur Best Pamphlet Award), Sightings (Michael Schmidt Award), At or Below Sea Level (PBS Recommendation), The Cold Store and My Name is Abilene (Forward Prize Best Collection shortlist). Elisabeth is an alumna of the Arvon/Jerwood Mentorship scheme 2016, mentored by Mona Arshi; Toast Poets 2017; and Uni Slam 2019. She was also a Ledbury Emerging Poet, 2017. Elisabeth has been long-listed for the National Poetry Competition and read with the former Poet Laureate of England, Carol Ann Duffy. Elisabeth is Editor of the Fenland Poetry Journal. Her own poems have appeared in the Forward Prize anthology in 2018, 2022 and 2023. Other work has appeared in Poem, The Rialto, Mslexia, Wasafiri, Magma, The Cannon's Mouth, Ambit, Ink, Sweat & Tears and Stand among others. Elisabeth was also part of the Faber Poetry Academy, under mentors Daljit Nagra and Rachael Allen in 2020/21.
Hannah Teasdale Biography
Hannah M. Teasdale MA, BSc was born in Birmingham, studied in Bath and now lives in Cambridgeshire. She is the author of a poetry pamphlet Fingerprints and three poetry collections: Laid Bare, Milked and Indelicate Sundays. Her individual poems have been published in numerous anthologies (Rialto, Urban Word, Interpreter's House and Mslexia) In 2017, Hannah completed a Master's Degree in Creative Writing where she earned a Distinction. In 2018-2019 Hannah hosted Hammer and Tongue's Bristol poetry night which took her to perform at the Albert Hall with her co-hosts.
Hannah has extensively toured the UK and been able to venture overseas offering poetry readings and workshops in disadvantaged and underrepresented sectors of the community.
Hannah currently offers workshops for young people and vulnerable adults within Fenland and beyond.
For further information, please contact: poetaward@fenland.gov.uk
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