We are delighted to announce the winners of our 2025/26 Poetry Competition!
Magma holds two poetry competitions each year: the Judge’s Prize for poems of 11 to 50 lines, which was judged this year by Rishi Dastidar, and the Editors’ Prize for poems up to 10 lines, which was judged by a panel of Magma editors.
The winning poems will be published in Magma 95, Summer 2026.
Thank you to everyone who entered and trusted Magma with your poems. Some long discussions and hard decisions were made!
JUDGES’ PRIZE
| First | The cleverest man in the world | Sharon Black |
| Second | The Evolution of X | Damen O’Brien |
| Third | A hundred tiny naked women | Lesley Curwen |
| Commended | Linguistics | Penny Blackburn |
| Commended | Elegy for the Argos catalogue | Chrissie Dreier |
| Commended | Skibidi Toilet | Sam Harvey |
| Commended | Believe Me | Conan Tan |
| Commended | Overnight you became a river | Fiona Ritchie Walker |
EDITORS’ PRIZE
| First | When did you last see your father? | A C Clarke |
| Second | Light / Regular / Super / Super Plus | Aliyah Begum |
| Third | Hare | Kathy Miles |
| Commended | Hanging by a Thread, You Instruct Me to Care | Jasmin Allenspach |
| Commended | One Hit Wonder | Daragh Byrne |
| Commended | Childish games | Eleanor Holmes |
| Commended | Scrimshaw | Catherine Spooner |
| Commended | Lichenisation | Max Wallis |
Supported by Arts Council England