The search for Fenland's Poet Laureate 2026 is underway with the launch of the annual poetry competition.
The award began in 2011 and is recognised as one of the most prestigious literary accolades in Cambridgeshire.
Poets and writers at every stage of their writing career are welcome to submit. The competition has recognised previously unpublished newcomers, established names, and emerging talent.
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 11 – 17 runs alongside the main competition; the winner of which will be crowned the Young Fenland Poet Laureate.
New for the 2026 awards is the introduction of a Junior Poet Laureate competition for primary-aged children.
Spoken word will also now be accepted for entry, and the awards are free to enter.
Entry Criteria
- The competition is open to anyone who lives, works or learns 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
- For the Junior Poet Laureate, the age range is between 5 and 10 years old
- Spoken word entries will be accepted for anyone who lives, works or learns in the administrative district of Fenland and is aged 18 or over
- For spoken word entries, the same age categories apply
How to enter
- Poems must be no longer than 40 lines
- All submissions must be the entrant’s own work
- Submissions must also be previously unpublished
- Poems may be in free verse or stricter form
- Only one entry per poet
- Written entries should be typed in Word document format and anonymous, meaning there should be no identifying features on the actual poem document itself.
Spoken word entries can be submitted as video files up to a maximum of five minutes. They should be sent by email to liv@20twentyproductions.co.uk
The email should include your name and which category you are applying for, but please ensure your entry does not include your name.
For school entries, please shortlist and collate entries into one submission. All written entries must be typed.
For the Junior Poet Laureate Award, there are to be no more than three entries per class.
The competition, which has previously been run through Fenland District Council, is this year being run by 20Twenty Productions and has three judges.
The judges are: Elisabeth Sennitt-Clough, Andrew McDonell, and Hetty Cliss.
Elisabeth is an award-winning poet and author, and lives in Whittlesey.
She has written five full poetry collections and her most recently published collection My Name is Abilene was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection 2023.
A new collection, Sidewinder, is forthcoming in 2026 and was awarded a Society of Authors grant.
Elisabeth is an alumna of the Arvon/Jerwood mentorship scheme and was a Ledbury Emerging Poet.
Her debut novel, Shadow Sister, was longlisted for the Jenny Brown Associates Prize 2025 and will be published by Holand Press.
Andrew is course leader for degrees in English Literature and Creative Writing at University Centre Peterborough.
He holds a PhD in Creative & Critical writing and his research is on how the second-person pronoun in short fiction can be used for oppositional and disruptive narratives.
Andrew is a published writer of both short stories and poetry, with his collection The Somnambulist Cookbook published by Salt in 2019.
Hetty, who is originally from Manea, and is a former Neale-Wade pupil, is a graduate of the University of East Anglia's Creative Writing MA.
Her debut pamphlet (In)Habit is out with fourteen poems, and her work can also be found in Banshee, And Other Poems, fourteen poems, Propel, and Bi+ Lines.
In 2024, she was the winner of the Ware Sonnet Prize.
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