North Yorkshire for Europe Poetry Competition

Closing date – 1st October 2026

BREXIT TEN YEARS ON: A EUROPHILE PERSPECTIVE

With the support of Leeds for Europe, Sheffield for Europe and York for Europe and the European Movement UK

It is now ten years since the Referendum initiated severance of the UK’s ties with the EU and heralded an estrangement from continental partners and allies that has yielded few if any of the advantages that Brexit’s proponents claimed it would bring. Now, polling suggests that more and more people think that Brexit was a mistake. The time for reflection is therefore ripe.

What better way to air our feelings on the subject than by summoning up the muse and putting pen to paper? We are therefore inviting local Rejoiners and other Europhiles to submit entries for a poetry competition on the theme of ‘Brexit Ten Years On’.

What subjects or themes can be considered?

Subject matter should be relevant to Brexit, the 2016 referendum, what led up to it, how events have developed subsequently, the consequences of Brexit, the political environment of Brexit and its evolution, Brexit ten years on, the future or any other aspect or angle that involves a reflexion on Brexit.

What kinds of compositions can be submitted?

Our definition of poetry is quite broad. Entries can include

· Poems in any form or style

· Song lyrics with original music

· New lyrics written to an existing song

Each composition should be no longer than 20 lines (excluding the title). For a song, the lines of any chorus will be counted once. Subsequent repeats should be indicated by Chorus and will not contribute to the line count.

Up to three entries may be submitted but you may just submit one or two. If you submit more than one, they may be the same or different types of composition.

You may submit entries composed specially for this occasion or, if you already have unpublished material that would fit the bill, you are welcome to submit that.

Entrants do not have to be members of the European Movement or one of its affiliated local/regional branches, but we’re assuming that compositions will be written from a pro-EU or pro-European stance.

NB: Compositions submitted should not have been published before in either electronic or printed form.

Click here to download the details

Is there an entry fee?

Yes, there is: £4 for the first or a single entry, £3 for further entries to a maximum of three in total, i.e. one plus up to two more. The maximum you would pay is, therefore, £10 for three entries.3

The Entry fee should be paid by bank transfer – details will be emailed afteryour entry is submitted.

Entry deadline: 11.59pm 1 October 2026.

What are the prizes?

1st Prize – £50 Book token

2nd Prize – £30 Book token

3rd Prize – £20 Book token

In addition, the winning poems will be read out at the Yorkshire Regional Conference in York on 7th November.
All entrants will receive an eBook including all of the submitted poems.

How should entries be submitted?

Compositions should be submitted by email, please, as a PDF document attached to the same email message. If you submit more than one composition, please send sparate PDFs for each. Compositions should be anonymised – your name or address or any other information by which you might be identified should not appear in the composition document.

The email itself should provide the following information:

· entrant’s name (or nom de plume), postal address, email address

· the title (if applicable) and first line of each composition submitted

Lyrics using an existing song should be accompanied by an indication (at the head of the composition) of which song has been used, as follows: ‘This lyric is to be sung to the tune of ‘original song title’ by ‘singer’s/group’s name’.

Song lyrics with original music should include the score in the same document as the lyric.

The email address to which entries should be sent is poetry.competition@nyfe.org.uk

We look forward to receiving your entries! Any queries? Please email poetry.competition@nyfe.org.uk

The Judging Panel

Mark Cooper Born in Doncaster. Expelled from Danum Grammar School. Studied graphic design at Doncaster Art College, at which I was rubbish. Studied 2 more years of graphic design to make sure I really was rubbish. I was. Fell into advertising. Had a fairly successful career and 17 jobs in 17 years. Fell into poetry. Had 3 books published- the last one being No one buys poetry books anymore. The world proved my title to be correct. My only ambition left in life is to be able to load my shopping into my bag as quickly as a Lidl checkout person can scan my shopping,

Paul McDonald Paul McDonald, formerly Course Leader for Creative Writing at the University of Wolverhampton, is the author of 20 books to date, which includes fiction, poetry and literary criticism. His creative work has won or been shortlisted/longlisted in numerous competitions, including the Bedford Prize, the Bridport Prize, the John Clare Poetry Prize, the East Riding Poetry Competition, Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, the Frosted Fire Annual Single-poem Competition, the Liverpool Poetry Prize, the Morecambe Poetry Festival Competition, the Ottakar’s and Faber Poetry Competition, the Retreat West Flash Fiction Prize, the Sentinel Poetry Competition, the Slipstream Poetry Prize, the Vole Books Competition, and the Wolverhampton Literature Festival Poetry Competition. His most recent books include Allen Ginsberg: Cosmopolitan Comic (2020), Don’t Use the Phone: What Poets Can Learn From Books (2023), and 60 Poems (2023).

Kate Swann Kate was born in West Yorkshire, raised among the lakes and mountains of Westmorland, but now lives in North Yorkshire. Following her retirement from 27 years working in the NHS, she has developed her poetry writing and has published two books of poetry. Her interest in writing extends beyond just poetry and she has researched and published the story of her mother’s life in industrial West Yorkshire. Kate runs the Ripon and District u3a Creative Writing Group and the Poetry Reading Group. She also co-ordinates the North Yorkshire branch of the Poetry School Stanza. Kate is keen to encourage new writers and as such is an active member of the Books & Beverages team, interviewing local authors at Harrogate Library.