Poetry contest issues well-versed reminder

The Larkin and East Riding Poetry Prize will pay a share of 2,000 to its winners and offer them each a chance to read at the Bridlington Poetry Festival.

Work will be judged by acclaimed poet Douglas Dunn and must be submitted by January 31.

Competition and festival organiser John Wedgwood Clarke, said: "The competition is great for giving writers something to aim for.

"It gives them a deadline and an incentive to raise their game.

"Winners will get a chance to read their work at a wonderful festival and a substantial reward for all that unpaid work they've put in learning their craft," he added.

"All entry fees are used to pay for educational work, so everyone who sends in their poems is doing something positive for the next generation of poets, as well as giving themselves a great chance to win."

Dunn, who was born in Renfrewshire in 1942, is a graduate of Hull University and worked in the university library with poet Philip Larkin, whom the competition is named after.

The festival is due to take place at Sewerby Hall between June 11 and 13.