2020 Open Poetry Competition

The final shortlisted poems were judged by Belinda Rimmer

Belinda has worked as a psychiatric nurse, lecturer and creative arts practitioner. Her poems have been widely published in magazines, on-line journals and anthologies, including: Under the Radar, Ambit, Brittle Star, Dream Catcher, Eye Flash, and Ink, Sweat & Tears. In 2017, she won the Poetry in Motion Competition to turn her poem into an award-winning film, since shown Internationally. In 2018, she came second in the Ambit Poetry Competition. She was also joint runner-up in this year's Stanza Poetry Competition. She is one of the two winners of the Indigo-First Pamphlet Competition, 2018, with her pamphlet, Touching Sharks in Monaco (published Spring 2019).

Congratulations to our winners:

Iris Lewis - David Linklater - Jennifer A McGowan

Plus, three honourable mentions to:

David Butler - Scott Elder - Ben Ray

2019 Competition Winners

V20 Pamphlet Winner 2019

Andrea Mbarushimana is a poet, community connector, artist and peace activist. Her book 'The Africa in my House' was published by Silhouette Press in 2017. Since then her work has been included in the Diversify anthology by Fairacre press, various litmags and in Humans of Cov, a Coventry 2021 City of Culture project. She's headlined at events in the UK and Ireland and also delivers poetry workshops for adults and children, most recently for Theatre Absolute and Imagineer's Bridge project. Andrea was recently selected for publication for the V20 Full Pamphlet Competition by The Gloucestershire Poetry Society.

General Poetry Competition Winner 2019

Kayleigh Campbell is a PhD Researcher at Huddersfield University and she is an Editorial Assistant for Stand Magazine. She also works as a freelance proofreader/editor. She has been published in print and online, including Butcher’s Dog, Black Bough Poetry and Riggwelter Press; she was also commended for the Geoff Stevens Prize. Her debut pamphlet, Keepsake, is available from Maytree Press.

Twitter - @kayyyleighc Instagram - @kayleighhhc Website - kayleighcampbell.co.uk