Following on from the success of our Milestone poetry competition (run in conjunction with the Milestone Society) Write Out Loud is collaborating with the Wolverhampton Original Literature Festival (WOLF) to run a poetry competition on their behalf.

The festival takes place over the last weekend of January 2018, and an exciting line-up – ranging from local writers’ groups to big literary names – will be announced soon. One of WOLF’s aims is to celebrate the wealth of talent in the West Midlands and the poetry competition is inspired by the city’s motto – “out of darkness cometh light”. Poets are invited to submit pieces of up to 40 lines on the theme of “out of darkness” before the deadline of 31 December 2017.

The competition is open to all, with a first prize of £400, and poems will be judged by Wolverhampton poet Emma Purshouse, pictured, who says: “I will be searching for those poems that engage with the reader, those poems that people will want to read again and again.” Winners will be announced in advance of the festival itself, with an opportunity to read at an awards event during the festival weekend. Full details of the competition can be found here 

PHOTOGRAPH: NICOLE LOVELL