MAGMA POETRY COMPETITION 2026/27

Now open for entries in both categories

The Judge’s Prize – poems of 11 to 50 lines

The Editors’ Prize – poems of up to 10 lines

Deadline 31 January 2027 11:59 pm GMT

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This year the Judge’s Prize for poems of 11 to 50 lines will be judged by Fiona Benson, winner of the 2026 Laurel Prize for her most recent collection Midden Witch. Fiona lives in Devon with her husband and their two daughters. Midden Witch was preceded by the collections Bright Travellers (Seamus Heaney Prize for first collection, Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize), Vertigo & Ghost (Roehampton Poetry Prize and the Forward Prize for Best Collection), and Ephemeron (all collections with Jonathan Cape). She is currently working with Ukrainian poets and poetry and has recently contributed as editor and poetry translator to Artur Dron’s We Were Here and Yaryna Chornohuz’s Dasein (both with Jantar Press); she is currently working on Fedir Rudyi’s debut collection The Position with co-translator Victor Shepelev. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Fiona says:

The Editors’ Prize is judged by a panel of Magma Editors and is for poems of up to 10 lines. The prize money for both competitions is the same, so double your chances and try your luck at both.

First prize for the Judge’s and Editors’ Prize is £1000, second prize £500 and third prize £250.

The three prize-winning poems from each category will be published in Magma Issue 98 in Summer 2027 and there will also be five special mentions for each of the Judge’s Prize and Editors’ Prize categories. All winning and commended poems will be published online on the Magma website. Winning and commended poets will be invited to read their poems at a Magma Competition event in Spring 2027.

Last years’ winners were published in Magma 95 Architecture Issue which is now sold out, although all winning and commended poems were also published in a free-to-download PDF which is available here.

All entries are judged anonymously so the submitted documents must not contain any names or identifying marks.

The entry fees are £8 for the first poem, £6 for the second and each subsequent poem. Magma magazine subscribers benefit from reduced fees: £4 for the first poem, £3 for the second and each subsequent poem.

You can subscribe to Magma Poetry from £22.00 here.

HOW TO ENTER VIA SUBMITTABLE

• You may enter as many poems as you like in each category (The Judge’s Prize for poems of 11 to 50 lines, or The Editors’ Prize for poems of up to 10 lines), but you must submit to each category in separate documents. NB Only written poetry counts as lines. Spaces between lines or stanzas, poem titles, epigraphs or dedications do not count as lines.
• Please upload the poems in one document for each category. Please name the documents Judge’s Prize or Editors’ Prize as applicable and submit all of the poems for that category in the relevant document.
• NB DO NOT INCLUDE YOUR NAME OR ANY IDENTIFYING MARKS on the submitted documents.
• Pay for all entries by picking the appropriate payment amount for total poems submitted. Subscriber and non-subscriber entries will be cross-referenced against our subscriber list and incorrectly paid entries may be disqualified. You can subscribe to Magma from £22.00 here but you must do this before you enter.
• The entry fees are £8 for the first poem, £6 for the second and each subsequent poem. Magma magazine subscribers benefit from reduced fees: £4 for the first poem, £3 for the second and each subsequent poem.
• The competition closes at 11:59 pm GMT on 31 January 2027.

GENERAL

• No alterations can be made after receipt, nor fees refunded.
• All poems must not have been previously published, self-published or accepted for publication in print or online, broadcast, or have won or been placed in another competition at any time.
• The Judge’s and Editors’ decisions are final and no correspondence can be entered into. No entrant may win more than one prize in each section.
• Should the named judge be unable to proceed, we aim to substitute an alternative judge of equivalent standing as a poet.
  Prizewinners will be notified individually in April 2027. The results will also be published on the Magma Poetry website after the prize-giving event.
• Copyright of each entry remains with the author, but Magma Poetry has the right to first publication of the winning poems in print and/or online within six months of the competition deadline.
• Entry implies acceptance of all the rules. Failure to comply with the rules will result in disqualification.