The 5^th International Welsh Poetry Competition has just been opened to one and all and is now accepting entries.

The aim of the competition is still to encourage and reward the abundance of creative writing talent that exists in Wales, but you don’t have to be Welsh to enter as the competition is open to anyone from anywhere in the world.

This year’s competition will be judged by the winner of last year’s competition - Welsh writer Sally Spedding (pictured). Sally has published five novels, a short story collection and won many poetry competitions in an illustrious career to date.

There are three major prizes to be won – a first prize of £300, a second prize of £150, and a third prize of £75, and this year there is the added bonus that an anthology of all the previous winners will be produced this summer.

To enter you just need to compose a poem, in English, of less than 50 lines and send to the competition organizers. Entry forms are available by post, can be downloaded from the website or picked up from Wales’ libraries. There is an entry fee of £3 and the closing date is Sunday, 29^th May, 2011.

You can find out more about the competition, including full details of how to enter on the Welsh Poetry website at: www.welshpoetry.co.uk