The £1,000 Keats-Shelley prizes for essays and poems have opened for entries. The theme for this year’s prizes is ‘Exile’, to mark the bicentenary of Byron’s death. 

Entrants to the Keats-Shelley prize and Young Romantics prize poetry competitions should submit a poem, contemporary in style, on the theme of ‘Exile’. The Keats-Shelley essay prize will remain open, with entrants able to explore any aspect of the life and work of the Romantic writers. Entrants to the Young Romantics prize essay competition, open to anyone aged 16-18, should submit an essay on one of the  following subjects: In what ways are Romantic-period writers relevant today? or “Mad, bad and  dangerous to know”: How important is a knowledge of Byron’s life to an understanding of his  poetry?

The deadline is 31 January 2025, with winners announced in April 2025. More details