the 2025 oxford poetry prize

Oxford Poetry awards the annual Oxford Poetry Prize for a single poem in the English language. The 2025 Prize opens on 1 May 2025. This year’s guest judge is Rebecca Tamás. The winner of the Oxford Poetry Prize receives £1,000, the runner-up £200, and third place £100. The winning poets are also offered publication in the print magazine. This year’s competition opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at midnight utc on 31 August 2025.

about this year’s guest judge

Rebecca Tamás is a poet, nonfiction writer, and critic. Her first full length poetry collection, WITCH (Penned in the Margins, 2019), was a Guardian, Times, Telegraph, White Review, Irish Times, Paris Review, and BBC Radio 4 Book of the Year, as well as a Paris Review Staff Pick and a Poetry Society Recommendation. Rebecca was a MacDowell Fellow, and recipient of the Sylvia Canfield Winn Fellowship for Environmental Writing. Her essay collection Strangers: Essays on the Human and Nonhuman (Makina, 2020) was longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize and she was joint editor, with Sarah Shin, of Spells: Occult Poetry for the 21st Century (Ignota, 2018; Silver Press, 2025). Rebecca works as a Lecturer in Creative Writing at City St George’s, University of London. Her second collection of poetry is forthcoming in 2026 with Fitzcarraldo.

submission guidelines

1	Entries should consist of one poem per uploaded file. The only acceptable file format is pdf.
2	Entries are accepted through Submittable only.
3	Entrants have the option of submitting more than one poem as part of their submission (in separate files, as above). The submission fee for each poem is £10.
4	There is no limit to the number of poems an individual may submit.
5	Each poem may comprise no more than 50 lines. Blank lines, titles, subtitles, dedications, and epigraphs are not counted as lines.
6	All submissions are read blind. Therefore, please do not include your name or any identifying information in the documents you upload. You should include this information only in the Title or Cover Letter field of the Submittable form.
7	The competition is open to writers living anywhere in the world.
8	Poems submitted must be the entrant’s own original work, and must not have been generated, in whole or in part, by a chatbot or other artificial intelligence.
9	Poems submitted must not have been previously published elsewhere, in print or online (including, but not limited to, blogs, websites, and social media).
10	A limited number of free entries is available to low-income writers. Email to enquire about free entry.

terms and conditions

1	The 2025 Oxford Poetry Prize is organised by Partus Press Ltd on behalf of the magazine Oxford Poetry.
2	The competition is open to anyone age 18 or over on the date of their submission. Submission of a poem to the Oxford Poetry Prize constitutes the entrant’s acceptance of these terms and conditions. Entries that do not comply with these terms and conditions will be disqualified from the competition.
3	Entries are welcome from 1 May 2025. The deadline for submitting entries is midnight utc on 31 August 2025. Work received after that date will not be considered.
4	Entrants will be contacted with a response to their submission by the end of November 2025. All submissions will receive a response, though we cannot provide editorial feedback on unsuccessful entries. Winners and shortlisted entrants will be notified by email.
5	No correspondence will be entered into regarding the judging process.
6	The poem that receives first prize in the competition will be published in a print issue of Oxford Poetry. Oxford Poetry will have the exclusive right to publish the winning poem for four months from its first publication in the print magazine. After four months, the rights will revert to the author, who may publish the poem elsewhere with appropriate credit to Oxford Poetry, but Oxford Poetry will retain the non-exclusive right to publish the poem online and in print.
7	The second- and third-prize winners will be offered publication in a print issue of Oxford Poetry.
8	The first-place poet will receive a cash prize of £1,000. The runner-up will receive a cash prize of £200. The third-place poet will receive a cash prize of £100. All cash prizes will be paid out in full no later than 90 days after the public announcement of the judge’s decision. No individual entrant may receive more than one cash prize.
9	Partus Press reserves the right not to award the prizes, or to reduce or split the prize money if, in its opinion, such an action is justified for any reason.
10	All poems submitted must be written primarily in the English language. We cannot accept translations, unless you have translated your own work and the work in the original language has not previously been published in print or online in accordance with the terms outlined above.
11	Each poem costs £10 to submit. The fee is not refundable, even if the submission is later withdrawn by the submitter.
12	No changes or alterations can be made to poems once they have been entered into the competition.
13	Partus Press Ltd cannot accept responsibility for any damage, loss, injury, or distress suffered by any person who has entered the competition.
14	Partus Press Ltd reserves the right to cancel the competition, or to amend the terms and conditions of entry, if the press deems it necessary or to account for circumstances beyond its control (in which case a notice will be posted on the Oxford Poetry website). If the competition is cancelled, paid entry fees will be refunded.
15	The entry must be the entrant’s own original work and must not infringe upon the copyright of any person or entity, nor may the entry have been generated, in whole or in part, by an artificial intelligence, chatbot, or other natural language processing software.
16	Each poem must comprise no more than 50 lines. Blank lines, titles, subtitles, dedications, and epigraphs are not counted as lines.
17	Current and former editors of Oxford Poetry, and family members of this year’s guest judge or of the magazine’s current editorial team, are not eligible to submit.
18	These terms and conditions apply equally to paid entries and unpaid entries entered under the low-income scheme.
19	In the event of a dispute regarding these terms and conditions, or any matter relating to the Oxford Poetry Prize, the decision of the organiser, Partus Press Ltd, shall be final.
20	The competition rules will be governed by English law and any dispute will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

the 2024 oxford poetry prize

The 2024 prize was judged by Rachel Long. The winning poems were published in issue 98 of Oxford Poetry. First prize went to AV Bridgwood, second prize to Afua Ansong, and third prize to Zain Rishi. There was also a commendation for Conan Tan.


The shortlisted poets for the 2024 prize were Claressinka Anderson, Roberto Salvador Cenciarelli, Rachel Curzon, Jordan Hamel, Sam Kerbel, Natalie Perman, Alison Tanik, Daniella Toosie-Watson, and Milena Williamson. Read more

the 2023 oxford poetry prize

The 2023 prize was judged by Will Harris. The winning poems were published in issue 96 of Oxford Poetry. First prize went to Miruna Fulgeanu, second prize to Jo Davis, and third prize to Eric Yip.


The shortlisted poets for the 2023 prize were Sheila Black, Caspar Bryant, Elena Croitoru, Caitlyn Klum, Vanessa Lampert, Clara-Laeila Laudette, Cassie Minicucci, Neha Mulay, Oluwaseun Olayiwola, Georgio Russell, Georgia San Li, Raine Thompson, and Matthew Woodman. Read more

the 2022 oxford poetry prize

The 2022 prize was judged by Emily Berry. The winning poems were published in issue 95 of Oxford Poetry. First prize went to Dominic Leonard, second prize to Linda Ravenswood, and third prize to Caleb Leow.


The shortlisted poets for the 2022 prize were Isabelle Baafi, Lily Blacksell, Kizziah Burton, Sarah Corney, Mark Fiddes, Jay Gao, Anastasia K. Gates, Brian Gyamfi, Laetitia Keok, Deborah Landau, Sara Pirkle, Ruby Silk, and Ruth Wiggins. Read more