First prize: £10,000
Deadline for entries: 6th August 2010
Entry fee: £15 (per portfolio)

Established in 1998 as the home of creative writing within the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University, the Manchester Writing School is, today, a thriving centre of creative excellence, working to benefit the literary community at large.

In 2008, funded by the University's Enterprise Fellowship scheme, the Manchester Writing School launched the Manchester Writing Competition – a new literary prize designed to attract and celebrate the best new writing from around the world, and to establish Manchester as the focal point for a major literary award.
Each year, the competition aims to award a substantial cash prize to the overall winner, or winners, as well as a bursary for study at MMU to an entrant aged 18 to 25 as part of our Young Writer of the Year Award.


Terms and Conditions

All entrants are asked to submit a portfolio of three to five poems (total maximum length 120 lines). The poems can be on any subject, and written in any style, but must be new work, not published or submitted for consideration elsewhere (including blogs and social networking sites) or have been broadcast, or be submitted for publication or consideration elsewhere, for the duration of the Manchester Poetry Prize (which is deemed to begin on the date of entry and end on Friday 22nd October 2010).

Eligible entrants are asked to indicate on the entry form if they would like to be considered for the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award in addition to the main prize.

Entries will be accepted by post or online (www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk). Payment may be made by cheque or postal order or debit/credit card.
Postal entries should be sent to:
Manchester Poetry Prize,
Alan Black,
HLSS,
Geoffrey Manton Building,
Manchester Metropolitan University,
Rosamond Street West,
Manchester, M15 6LL,
United Kingdom.


Prizes:
"The Manchester Writing Competition: The Manchester Poetry Prize" will award two prizes:
- The Manchester Poetry Prize for the best overall submission
- The Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award for the best submission by a writer aged 18 to 25
The winner(s) of The Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award will be awarded a fees-only bursary for study in the Department of English at Manchester Metropolitan University, dependent upon the winner securing a place via the usual means of application, on one of the Department of English’s degree programmes at undergraduate or postgraduate level (these include BA (Hons) in English and Creative Writing, and the MA Creative Writing programmes in Poetry, Fiction and Writing for Children. The MA is available to study on campus or by online distance learning).

Competition Judges:
Simon Armitage writes for adults and children, for radio, television and film, and is the author of four stage plays. He has published 16 volumes of poetry, two novels and three non-fiction books. His awards for poetry include the Sunday Times Author of the Year, the Forward Prize and a Lannan Award. He currently lives in Yorkshire and is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the Manchester Writing School, MMU.
Lavinia Greenlaw has published three collections of poetry, two novels, a memoir, libretti, song cycles and radio drama, and documentaries. She is former Chair of the Poetry Society.
Daljit Nagra - His work has been published in Poetry London, Poetry Review and The Rialto, and he was a judge for the 2008 Samuel Johnson Prize.

Contact:
James Draper
Project Manager: The Manchester Writing School
Department of English
Manchester Metropolitan University
E-mail: [email protected]



photo:www.123rf.com