First prize: £10,000*      Deadline for entries: 6th August 2010      Entry fee: £15
 
Judges: Simon Armitage, Lavinia Greenlaw and Daljit Nagra
 
Under the direction of Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University is launching the second Manchester Poetry Prize – a major international literary competition celebrating excellence in creative writing.
 
The Manchester Poetry Prize* is open internationally and will award a cash prize of £10,000 to the writer of the best portfolio of poetry submitted. The competition is open to entrants aged 16 or over; there is no upper age limit.
In addition to the main prize, a bursary for study at MMU will be awarded to one entrant aged 18-25 as part of the Manchester Young Writer of the Year Award.
 
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.
 
The prizes will be awarded at a gala dinner hosted at Manchester Metropolitan University as part of the 2010 Manchester Literature Festival. Tickets for this event will be on sale soon.
 
To find out more about the Manchester Poetry Prize, visit our website where you can also enter online: www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk