In celebration of the work of the Cornish poet Charles Causley, the Young People’s Poetry Competition 2022 aims to encourage and enable young writers to have a go at writing poetry themselves. Charles wrote prolifically for adults and for young people and much of his inspiration came from what was going on around him in his home town of Launceston in Cornwall.

You can watch Head Judge Patrick Gale launch this year’s competition on our Youtube channel, but read on for all the information you need to enter!

With this in mind, we want the young poets of the future to be inspired to write their own poetry responding to this year’s theme of ‘Home’. You can enter through your school, as part of a group, or you can enter as an individual.

The competition is open to all young people aged between 5 and 18 years old who live anywhere in the UK and is free to enter. Poems will be judged by Patrick Gale and a panel of poetry judges with prizes awarded for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Highly Commended places in each category. This year we will also have an honourable mention for a young poet based in Cornwall. We aim to present our awards at the North Cornwall Book Festival on 23rd September 2022, but an alternative digital event will be organised if there are any restrictions on public gatherings at that time.

The deadline for entries has now passed. Any entries submitted post 31st May will not be considered for our competition.