The Greek Bicentennial Poetry Pamphlet Prizes 2021

An international competition is open for The Greek Bicentennial Poetry Pamphlet Prizes, a one-off programme for 2021 offering cash and publication prizes for new work in poetry in the English language and for original illustrations. The prize is open internationally to new and established writers and illustrators of any age.

We are inviting poets and illustrators to reflect on the culture and history of the Greeks, from ancient to contemporary times, on the occasion of the Bicentennial celebration of the creation of Modern Greece.

We would like to honour the richness and vitality of Greek culture, its complexity and continual reinvention, its many traditions, its humanist philosophy, its cosmopolitanism and its lasting impact on the world as we know it.

Please research these themes and consider your own personal responses to them before creating and submitting your work. The judges will look for depth of understanding of the subject as well as the quality of the poetry and illustrations.

Poetry Prize: £10,000* and publication of your portfolio as a pamphlet, with illustrations and Greek translations, distributed internationally

Illustration Prize: £5,000* and publication of your illustrations in a pamphlet, alongside the winning poems, distributed internationally

The Greek Bicentennial Pamphlet will be a volume of new creative work supported entirely by Marina, Lady Marks, and will form part of the 2021 Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets. It will be distributed in the UK, US and Greece, and will be available from December 2021.

Deadline for Entries: Friday 18th June 2021, midnight (UK time).

Portfolios must be clearly inspired by the themes described (see ‘The Greek Bicentennial’ info on website).

Poetry portfolio: a maximum combined length of 150 lines of poetry.
Illustration portfolio: a minimum of five and a maximum of eight illustrations.

Poetry Judges: Ruth Padel, David Constantine, Natasha Bershadsky

Illustration Judge: Antony Griffiths

Poetry Translator: Haris Psarras