The winning collection will be published in 2027/28, promoted widely alongside our other new publications, and entered for all eligible awards and prizes. It will be sold in bookshops throughout the UK and through online stockists of The Poetry Business publications.

This special iteration of the competition will be judged by poet, artist and filmmaker Imtiaz Dharker.

Entrants are invited to submit a collection of 40 to 60 pages of poetry. One winner will be selected by the judge for publication under our award-winning imprint Smith|Doorstop Books. The winner will also receive £500, publication in The North magazine, and readings at The Wordsworth Trust and online. Two runners-up will receive publication in a feature in The North magazine, an online reading and an honorarium of £100 each.

The winner will receive expert close editing and support in developing their collection for publication.

Full-price entry to the 40th Anniversary Collection Competition is £38. Subscribers to The North, Friends of the Poetry Business, and members of the Poetry Society are eligible for the discounted fee of £35. Entrants who also wish to enter the 2027 Pamphlet Competition may purchase a combined entry for £50.

Running our usual Book and Pamphlet Competition as two separate strands this year - The Poetry Business Pamphlet Competition and the 40th Anniversary Collection Competition - will allow us to publish our competition-winning pamphlets as usual and to publish a full collection by the winner of the collection competition. Our long-standing International Book & Pamphlet Competition will return next year.

Find out more here

The deadline for entries is midnight on Tuesday 17th November 2026.