Apologies - Results Delayed!

We have to sincerely apologise – we will not be able to announce the results of the UK & Ireland Under 18 category today as planned.

We are involved in the centenary commemorations for the death of WW1 poet Wilfred Owen who was killed in action 100 years ago today at Ours in Northern France. This is going to take longer than we expected so we will not able to publish the U18 results until tomorrow – Monday.

The results for the Adult categories will follow that. As it happens, the judges are in deadlock over the results for the Adult section so we are not in a position to announce those any sooner anyway. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

2018 Results - Overseas Under 18 Entries

Today we are pleased to announce the winning entries in the Overseas Under-18 Poems category of the competition.

The First Prize goes to the poem "Only If I Could Come Back" by Shreenabh Agrawal of Nagpur, India

2nd Prize goes to "A Message From Heaven" by Tara Stankovic of Belgrade, SERBIA

and 3rd Prize goes to "Bipolar" by Swarnila of Dhaka, Bangladesh

There is also a Highly Commended award for "Fire and Snow" sent in by Ashma Pandya of New Delhi, India

The winning poem is reproduced here below and all four poems are included in the Overseas anthology.



The prize winners will each receive a competition certificate and free copy of the anthology. There is an option to order extra copies of the book at a greatly reduced price for prize winners and also for everybody whose submissions are included - and details of how to order copies will be announced shortly.

Tomorrow we will be announcing the winners of the UK & Ireland Under 18 Poems Category – so do please check back!

2018 Results - Overseas Photo / Art Category

Following on from yesterday’s excitement, today we are announcing the winning entries in the Overseas Photo / Art category of the competition.

The First Prize goes to the photo "Malampuzha Dam & River" by Ajina Fabiyas of Kerala, India, and this features on the front cover of the Under 18 and Overseas Anthology..

Second Prize goes to "Purple Heart and Tattoo" by Greg Fino of Pennsylvania, USA

and two Highly Commended awards go to

"Tiffany Window" by Margaret Stetz of Washington DC, USA

and "Message of Hope" by Cecilia Mallon, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

These three images are used on the back cover of the Overseas anthology.

Other photos used inside the Overseas Anthology book this year are a shot previous of winner Christine Poropat by Jennifer Norwell, Ontario, Canada, portrait of Safaa Sheikh Hamad from Baghdad, Iraq, "Under 18 Prize Winners 2012" by Paul Breeze, UK and "Boys Reading Anthology" by Fabiyas MV, India

The first and second prize winners will each receive a competition certificate and free copy of the anthology. There is an option to order extra copies of the book at a greatly reduced price for prize winners and everybody whose submissions are included and details of how to order will be announced shortly.

Tomorrow we will be announcing the winners of the Overseas Under 18 Poems Category – so do please check back!

2018 Results - UK & Ireland Photo / Art Category

Well – here we are – it’s results day for the 2018 Pendle War Poetry Competition and in what has become our traditional manner, we will be announcing one category per day – just to keep the excitement going a little bit longer!!!

Today we start off with the UK & Ireland Photo / Art category of the competition and it may already be a bit of an open secret as the front cover image for the new anthology has already been released in limited circles.

However, we are pleased to announce that the winner of the First Prize goes to the thought-provoking and highly atmospheric photo entitled "Broken Hands" by Jane Crossen of Sheringham, Norfolk.

Second Prize goes to Charlie Wood of Birkenhead, Wirral for his drawing entitled "WW2 Spitfire", which is on the back cover.

Other submissions used inside the book this year are "Arras Memorial" by Angela & Clive Eggleton and "Visit To The Somme" by Sandra Godfrey

The first and second prize winners will each receive a competition certificate and free copy of the anthology. There is an option to order extra copies of the book at a greatly reduced price for prize winners and everybody whose submissions are included and details of how to order will be announced shortly.

Tomorrow we will be announcing the winners of the Overseas Photo / Art Category – so do please check back!

Exciting News About The 2018 Anthology!

We are very excited to announce that, having received so many high quality entries for the 2018 competition (and had many complaints from the judges about how difficult it is to make selections from their lists..!) we have decided to produce TWO anthologies this year so that we can include even more poems.

This year we will produce one anthology for the UK and Ireland Entries and a separate volume for the Under 18 and Overseas Entries.

We don’t list the winners in the anthology book – we prefer people to read the book and pick their own favourites rather than be directed as to what other people thought were the best poems, although all the top poems are, of course, included in the anthology.

The section winners will be announced via the website from 1^st November onwards – and we don’t even know who they all are yet as the judges are still sifting through their short-lists!

Winners and placed entrants receive a free copy of the anthology and everybody whose poem is included in the book can buy copies at a reduced rate from us through the website.

An update email will be sent out to all entrants with details of which poems are included in the anthologies and this will also be posted on the website once the results are announced.

For once, we happen to slightly ahead of ourselves with the Anthology this year – rather then slightly behind for a change - and the finished books are already available for sale via Amazon. Please be aware however that these are on sale at the normal retail price and are aimed at the general public rather than competition entrants.

A special sales link will be published on the website where you can order copies at a reduced price - with special offers for multiple orders, back issues etc - so do keep an eye on the website and the Facebook page for more information updates.

Judging Panel Announced for the 2018 Competition

Panel of Judges for the
2018 Pendle War Poetry Competition 
(clockwise wise from top left):
Marie Kershaw with Lucy London,
Lady Jennifer MacLellan,
Mary Millward, Steve Millward,
David Youngs, Jennie Carr.

The Judging Panel for the 2018 competition has been appointed and will be overseen by poet, writer and broadcaster Lucy London.

Lady Jennifer MacLellan is the daughter of Forgotten Poet of the First World War Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Casson (1889 - 1944) who fought in both World Wars.  She edited and published some of her father's poems.

David Youngs and Jennie Carr
are the grandchildren of the Canadian war poet Frank J Prewett. They spent their childhood years in the home counties with their mother Jane Prewett and father, Alexander Young, a renowned tenor.

David Youngs studied mathematics and followed a career in IT and telecommunications. He lives in Lancashire where, in retirement, he pursues his many interests which include fell walking, tennis and ship modelling and is a keen amateur photographer and pianist. He is married to Julie and has two children and two grandchildren.

Jennie Carr studied art and design but pursued a career in IT as a teacher and project manager in the NHS. She is married to Mike and now lives in Oxfordshire having spent some time in New Zealand. She is a talented poet and her poems have been published in various magazines and anthologies. She won first prize for poetry in the 2016 Brittlestar writing competition and in 2018 won the Littoral Press nature collection competition with her collection “A Tilt in the Year.”

Roger Quin  is the Grandson of the poet Harold Begbie who wrote the poem "Handing Down" and nephew of Janet Begbie, a Female Poet of the First World War.

Mary and Steve Millward: Steve Millward is an author, broadcaster and lecturer specialising in music history.  Mary Millward has an academic background in literature and history and works in a variety of arts and crafts.

Marie Kershaw is an artist and ceramicist from Lytham St Annes whose works have been widely displayed.

Entries CLOSED For 2018 Competition - Judging Process Now Underway

ENTRIES HAVE NOW OFFICIALLY CLOSED FOR THE 2018 Pendle War Poetry Competition.
Any entry received from now on will be held over and entered into the 2019 competition instead.

So, what happens next?

This year’s judges have been appointed and will be announced here on the competition website in the next week or so.

We hope to announce the competition results starting from 1^st November – with one category being announced on the website per day.

We will publish the winning poems online but we also produce an anthology of all the shortlisted poems in each category. The winners in each section will receive a free copy of the anthology as part of their prize and everybody else who has a poem included will have the opportunity to buy copies at a special reduced price in case they want to give them as presents to family and friends.

Details of which poems have been shortlisted will be posted on the website once the winners have been announced and information for ordering copies of the book will also be posted.

Please note that we are only be available to contact the WINNERS in each category and, to find out if you have been shortlisted, you’ll need to keep an eye on the website and Facebook page for the announcements.

So – keep your eye on this website as all the competition news will posted here!