Submissions are invited for Ashdown Forest Poetry Competition 2024. The last date of submission is August 31, 2024.

About Ashdown

Covering over 10 square miles, Ashdown Forest is one of the largest open access areas in Southeast England.Β  Situated within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, its lowland heathland and deciduous woodland habitats are home to many rare and threatened species.

With a rich human history from Kings and commoners to smuggling and industry dating back centuries, Ashdown Forest is also the setting of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories.

Ashdown Forest is owned by the Ashdown Forest Trust and managed by the Conservators of Ashdown Forest.Β 

Competition Details

Ashdown Forest has long been the source of inspiration for many a writer and artist and, most famously, the setting of the Pooh stories by A. A. Milne.

This year (2024) commemorates 100 years since the publication of Milne’s book of poetryΒ When We Were Very Young,Β which first introduced Christopher Robin and his teddy bear to the world. As a result, Ashdown Forest is proud to present a new poetry competition in partnership with Sian Thomas, Ashdown Forest’s poet in residence, and The Ashdown Forest Foundation.

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Criteria

  • Poems must be inspired by Ashdown Forest – either about the Forest, or somehow linked to it, perhaps being inspired while walking on the Forest as Pooh often did.
  • Your poem must be no more than 40 lines in length.Β 
  • Entry to this competition is free of charge.
  • The submission doesn’t need to be an original piece, so feel free to dust off your old notepads and submit a hidden gem.
  • This competition is open to writers of any nationality writing in English.
  • Entries must be entirely your own work.
  • Your poem must be typed single-spaced in a standard 12-point font and saved either as a Word document (.doc or .docx) or as .rtf, .pdf, .txt.

Categories

There are two categories:

  • Adults (over 18s).
  • Teens (13-18 yrs).

Prize

The prize will be publication on the Ashdown Forest website. This means we do need your approval to publish and publicise your work, the details for which are available under Conditions of Entry (available under β€˜Criteria’ above).

How to Submit?

Interested participants can submit online via this link.

Submission Deadline

The last date of submission is August 31, 2024.

Contact

Ph: 01342 823583

Click here to view the official notification of Ashdown Forest Poetry Competition 2024.