Poems are invited that deal with any aspect of nature and place – these terms will be given a wide interpretation by the judge Helen Mort.

Closing date April 1st 2024

PRIZES
     1st Prize  £1000
     2nd Prize £500
     3rd Prize £250

ENTRY FEES
      £7 FOR YOUR FIRST POEM
      £4 FOR EACH SUBSEQUENT POEM

Please select how many poems you are submitting from the drop down below and make your payment. You can attach your poems in the form below.
     If you wish to submit more than six poems you will need to make a second submission which will include a second administration fee.
     If entering more than 1 poem, please load your poems as separate files and pay the appropriate fee.
     Please note we require poems to be sent as either as a Adobe PDF or a  Microsoft Word .doc or a .docx. Please retain all emails from  Submittable regarding your submission and transaction.

Competition rules
 

• Closing date of the Competition is midnight on April 1 2025.
• The Competition is open to anyone over the age of 18, other than Rialto team members and staff of the RSPB, CCI, UK staff of BirdLife International and the University of Leeds Poetry Centre.
• Poems must have a title and must be no more than 40 lines, excluding the title, and be typed in black ink on one side of A4. The restriction of 40 lines does not include the poem title or stanza breaks, only the lines of the poem’s text.
• Poems must be the original work of the entrant and must not have been published, self-published or published online or broadcast. Poems are judged anonymously so the poet’s name address etc., MUST NOT appear on the poem.
• If entering poems online via Submittable, In the ‘title’ field on Submittable form please only enter a title that does not include your name – e.g ‘3 poems for Nature and Place Comp’ or simply list your poem titles.
• Poems must be written in English.
• No corrections can be made to poems entered, nor can fees be refunded.
• Entries cannot be returned.
• If you require confirmation that your postal entry has arrived please enclose a stamped self-addressed postcard marked ‘Acknowledgement’.
• Copyright of each poem remains with the poet, but by entering the competition you give the organisers the right to publish the winning poems both online and in printed media.
• The judge’s decision is final and neither they nor the organisers will enter into any correspondence.
• Prizewinners will be notified in May and lists of the prizewinners and the long-listed contestants will be published on The Rialto website.
• The competition organisers reserve the right to change the judge without notice and not to award prizes if in the judge’s opinion such an action is justified.

There are a limited number of free entries available for writers on low or supported incomes. These will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis and will cover the submission of up to two poems. To enter, please email your work to matt.howard@therialto.co.uk . Entries will be anonymised and entered into the Submittable system.