August challenge #1 2024: Poetry as (Optimistic) Prophecy

The challenge: Write a poem about a future in which you would want to live.

This challenge is for writers aged up to 25 based anywhere in the world. The deadline is 23:59 GMT, Sunday 15 September 2024. 

You can send a poem, or poems, written down, or as video or audio files. If you are sending a written version of your poem, please type it into the body of your email. If you are sending a video or audio file, please attach it to the email (making sure it’s no bigger than 4MB or it won’t come through) or send us a link to where we can see/hear it. If you are submitting video or audio files, please also submit a text version. You can submit as many poems as you like. 

We are using Submittable to accept submissions to this challenge. Using Submittable helps our team to administrate and process entries more quickly. 

Please use Submittable if you can. But if you have any problems submitting via Submittable, don’t worry! You can still enter by email. Follow the instructions below. 

Send your poem(s) to educationadmin@poetrysociety.org.uk with your name, date of birth/age, gender, the county (or, if you’re not from the UK, the country) you live in, and where you found out about this challenge (e.g. TikTok, Instagram, YPN email, etc). In the email subject line please write ‘August challenge #1’. If you are aged 12 or younger on 4 August 2024, you will need to ask a parent/guardian to complete this permission form. Otherwise, we unfortunately cannot consider your entry due to data protection laws. 

We welcome entries from schools and youth groups. Use this class entry form to enter students from your class or group and submit their poems via email to educationadmin@poetrysociety.org.uk in a single attachment if possible.

If you would like us to add you to the Young Poets Network mailing list, include ‘add me to the mailing list’ in the subject line of the email. If you would like us to confirm that we’ve received your entry, include ‘confirm receipt’ in the subject line. You may refuse to provide information about yourself.

Please be aware that Young Poets Network is for young people from any age up to 25, so we are unlikely to publish works on this website that contain graphic or upsetting imagery that is inappropriate for our younger members. If you are not sure whether your poem contains such content, you are of course welcome to submit it anyway for us to read.  If your poem is chosen as a winner, we reserve the right to suggest some edits and/or include content warnings and/or not to publish explicit content. Remember you are welcome to submit as many poems as you like for free.

By entering, you give permission for Young Poets Network and The Poetry Society to reproduce your poem in print and online in perpetuity if you are among the winning poets of this challenge, though copyright remains with you. Please do be sure to check through the general Terms and Conditions for YPN challenges as well.

If you require this information in an alternative format (such as Easy Read, Braille, Large Print or screenreader friendly formats), or need any assistance with your entry, please contact us at educationadmin@poetrysociety.org.uk.