The After the End poetry competition 2024 is now closed. The winners will be announced on the After the End website at the beginning of December.

Entries are currently being reviewed by our wonderful judging panel including award-winning poet Jenny Mitchell, literary agent Salma Begum, University of Exeter’s director of Liberal Arts Dr Michael Flexer and After the End researcher and Professor of Modern Literature and Medical Humanities Laura Salisbury.

This poetry competition invited creative responses from poets that critically engage with ideas of time and temporality and the question of who gets to say that something has ended.

The competition invited work from poets at every stage of their writing careers, recognising previously unpublished newcomers, established names, and emerging talents. 

Poems were welcomed on any issue related to themes of time, temporality and endings and in any style.

The After the End Poetry Competition offers to winners a first prize of £750, second and third place winners will be offered £125 each. All three winners will be published on the After the End website, and poems may be shared on media channels connected to the After the End project.

Poetry competition guidelines

• All entries must be formatted as a single-spaced word document or PDF.

• Entries should be up to 5 pieces of poetry or a spoken word video performance

• Each poetry piece should be no longer than 40 lines.

• Spoken word video performance must be under 4 minutes total

• Spoken Word submissions should be submitted in mp4 format via wetransfer.com to admin@ethox.ox.ac.uk. Please also send the poem in word or pdf in an email attachment to admin@ethox.ox.ac.uk.

• All entries are judged anonymously, therefore, please do not include your name or any identifying information in the documents you upload. You should include this information only in the body of the email.

• This is an international competition, and all entries must be in English.

• All entries must be the entrant’s own original work, and must not have been generated, in whole or part, by a chatbot or other artificial intelligence.

• The author must have the right to publish the poem on aftertheend.squarespace.com. The copyright remains with the author.

• No corrections post-entry can be accepted.

• The results of the competition will be published online and the decision of the judge(s) will be final.

• No correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging process.

• The closing date for entries is midnight (UK time) on 3rd October 2024. Winners will be notified by email four-six weeks after the closing dates.

• Entries will not be eligible where the writer is part of the judging process, or anyone involved in the management/administration of the Prize, or a close family relative of any such person.