We are preparing to open for entries this autumn. Please join our mailing list or follow us on social media for an update when we announce the date.
Yes.
Yes. Publishers, poets and illustrators can all enter their published pamphlets. Please remember to co-ordinate with each other, so you don’t enter the same work twice.
Yes. Pamphlets with multiple authors are welcome. If a pamphlet with multiple authors wins then the finical prize would be split between the contributors and the residency prize would go to one author selected by the judges.
No. The awards celebrate pamphlets published in the UK.
For a work to be 'published' it needs to have been reproduced and made available to the public. This might be with a professional distributor through bookshops, but it could also be hand-selling your pamphlet at local events, or giving it away a part of a community project.
Yes, we used to have an award for manuscripts with an environmental theme. In 2025 transformed our support for environmental poetry by introducing The Michael Marks Award for Environmental Poetry Pamphlet. The prize is given to the best published poetry pamphlet, with an environmental theme, rather than an unpublished portfolio. This change allowed us to recognise the work of poetry pamphlet editors and publishers; as well as continuing to celebrate poets writing in this vital area.
No, but if it does have one please do include it on the entry form.
The award welcomes stand-alone publications rather than regular magazines or periodicals. However, we recognise that "zine" is sometimes used to describe stand-alone works, especially those which play with collage, inventive use of layout, and the interplay between text and image. These stand-alone works are welcome. If in doubt, please contact the administrator.
Yes, the awards welcome non-standard bindings. Non-standard bound entries need an equivalent page count to traditionally bound pamphlets. For example, we welcome publications of no more than 36 printed pages, this remains true whether the pages are presented in booklet format or as a box of unbound pages. If you are unsure whether your non-standard bound work has the equivalent page-length of a pamphlet, please contact the prize administrator.
Yes, the printed pages count includes all pages with print on them, not just poems.
