LoveReading is thrilled to announce the sixth year of The LoveReading4Kids Poetry Prize in association with National Poetry Day.   National Poetry Day is the annual mass celebration in October that encourages all to enjoy, discover and share poetry. This year, National Poetry Day 2024 will take place on Thursday 3rd October and will focus on the theme of refuge.

LoveReading4Kids launches the 2024 outing of its annual competition for children ages 7- 11 from across the UK. The competition is looking for original poems focused on your young poet’s interpretation of the theme of refuge. Whatever way the theme speaks to them, we hope they'll be able to express this feeling with poetry this year.

The winning poet will win a visit to their school from National Poetry Day ambassador Laura Mucha, and £250 of LoveReading4Kids Gift Cards for their School for their school and £50 of LoveReading4Kids Gift Cards for themselves. The runner-up will receive £100 of LoveReading4Kids Gift Cards for their school and £20 of LoveReading4Kids Gift Cards for themselves.

Both Winner and Runner Up will also receive a trophy and certificate and a batch of beautiful poetry books courtesy of Macmillan Children's Books, one of the UK's leading children's publishers, creating and publishing bestselling brands and children’s books for all ages for over 150 years.

The winning and commended poems will also be published on the LoveReading4Kids and LoveReading4Schools websites.

So, please, spread the word and let’s get creating.

Teachers can enter batches of poems from their class or children within the age range can enter individually.

Don’t delay, although you have until the end of the Summer term to support your aspiring poets in creating their masterpieces, get crafting! The LoveReading4Kids team of judges cannot wait to read your young poets’ creations!”

Good Luck!

Here are our Terms and Conditions of entry.

Key Dates
Submissions for the Award will be accepted from 1st May 2024.
The deadline for submissions is 5.30pm GMT on 29th July 2024.
The Shortlist will be announced on 2nd September 2024.
The winning poets will be announced on National Poetry Day 2024 – Thursday 3rd October.

Hints and Tips
There are resources and ideas to prompt children’s poetry writing on the National Poetry Day website www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk

How To Enter
We invite poetry from children living in the UK aged 7-11 (on the submission deadline) written in English. We are looking for exciting, stimulating, original and beautifully written poems that leave a powerful impression on the reader. You can write in any style and in any length.

Individual Entries
Applicants are invited to enter their submissions via the online entry form. https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/submit-poem-single-entry

Group Entries
If you are a teacher entering a whole class, please ensure you detail the name and DOB of each child, click here https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/submit-poem-group-entry

Please note incomplete entry forms and poems not submitted in accordance with the entry instructions will unfortunately not be eligible for consideration.If you have any questions about this submission process email kids@lovereading.co.uk

The Judging Panel and Process
The entries will be judged by our panel. From the entries submitted, the judges will draw up a shortlist of poems, from which they will select the winning entry.
LoveReading reserves the right to increase or reduce the number of entries selected for the longlist and shortlist at their discretion.
The judging panel also have the right to call in entries they feel are worthy of entry but have not been submitted.
The judging will be fair and independent. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Our judges are all LoveReading Expert Reviewers and team members and are joined by Jay Bhadricha, Head of Programmes at Forward Arts Foundation, the home of National Poetry Day. Our team of judges will be complemented by a People’s Choice award - a unique opportunity for LoveReading4Kids readers to vote for their favourite poem from the shortlist.

Jay commented: "We're thrilled to partner with LoveReading4Kids for the 6th time on their upcoming National Poetry Day competition. This year it's National Poetry Day's 30th anniversary and the theme is ‘Counting’. I cannot wait to see all the ways young writers will approach the theme – from using counting in their poems to whose voice counts or even counting your carbon footprint! Happy writing!"

The Award
The winning poet will win a visit to their school from a National Poetry Day ambassador Laura Mucha, and £250 of LoveReading4Kids Gift Cards for their school and £50 of LoveReading4Kids Gift Cards for themselves. The runner-up will receive £100 of LoveReading4Kids Gift Cards for their school and £20 of LoveReading4Kids Gift Cards for themselves.

Both Winner and Runner Up will also receive a trophy and certificate and a batch of beautiful poetry books courtesy of Macmillan Children's Books, one of the UK's leading children's publishers, creating and publishing best selling brands and children’s books for all ages for over 150 years.

The winning and commended poems will also be published on the LoveReading4Kids and LoveReading4Schools websites.

Acceptance of Terms and Conditions
These guidelines must be read thoroughly to check that the author’s work is eligible for submission. Any story submitted is done so on the basis that these Terms and Conditions are accepted.

“Award” means this competition to find the best children’s poem which will be called The LoveReading4Kids Poetry Prize 2024. We will also appoint The LoveReading4Kids Poetry Prize – People’s Choice Award 2024.

“Entrant” means all poets, parents and / or teachers submitting an entry either personally or on behalf of/ with the consent of a poet.

The poem must be original and entirely the poet’s own work. The poem must be submitted in the poet’s own name.

The Award is not open to employees of LoveReading or anyone connected with the Award including direct family members.