AUB International Poetry Prize 2023

The competition, with its theme of ‘Chance’, is open to writers over the age of 16 from any part of the world and will be judged by award-winning poet Glyn Maxwell.

An impressive prize of £500 is due to be awarded to the best entry, with two runner-up prizes and ten Highly Commended places up for grabs. Not only that, but all longlisted entries will be published in a celebratory digital anthology. See below for last year’s anthology designed by AUB Graphic Design student Keytrin Gyumova and edited by Creative Writing lecturer Elizabeth Woodgate.

The competition’s theme encourages writers to express their thoughts and feelings in a way that doesn’t restrict them to a particular topic or approach. Entrants can choose to write in any form or style of poem in response to the theme, which can be interpreted in any way they like. Whether it’s sharing a personal experience of chance or observing it in the wider world, from having an unexpected encounter at a bus stop or seizing an opportunity to fly into outer space, we’re looking forward to seeing a variety of creative approaches.

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AUB International Poetry Prize 2022 — Digital Anthology

We're delighted to launch the 2022 AUB International Poetry Prize Anthology, designed by AUB student Keytrin Gyumova, and edited by AUB Creative Writing lecturer Elizabeth Woodgate. The anthology celebrates all prize-winning and longlisted poems from the competition, judged by Glyn Maxwell, and the work of our BA (Hons) Creative Writing students.

Chair of Judges: Glyn Maxwell

Glyn Maxwell's books of poetry include How The Hell Are You, which was shortlisted for the T S Eliot Award, Pluto, which was shortlisted for the Forward Prize in 2013, and The Nerve, which won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize in 2004. His book-length poem Time’s Fool is in development as a feature film with Fox Searchlight. In 2012 he published On Poetry, a popular critical guidebook, and in 2016 its fictional sequel, Drinks With Dead Poets. His plays include Liberty, which premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2008, and The Lifeblood, which was British Theatre’s ‘Best New Play’ at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004. He is also a librettist and novelist. During a ten-year spell in the USA he taught at Amherst, Princeton, Columbia and NYU, and in the UK has taught at the Universities of Warwick, Essex and Goldsmiths, and currently teaches on the MA at the Poetry School. He was Chair of Judges for the T S Eliot Prize in 2022.