Submitting your poems

You can submit up to six poems in one batch, the entry fee for the first poem is £7 and includes an administration fee, the fee for each subsequent poem in the batch is £4.

If entering more than 1 poem, please load your poems as separate files and pay the appropriate fee.

If you wish to submit more than six poems you will need to make a second submission which will include a second administration fee.

Please note we require poems to be sent as either as a Adobe PDF or a Microsoft Word .doc or a .docx. Please retain all emails from Submittable regarding your submission and transaction.

Enter here using Submittable.

If you have any queries regarding the competition please contact matt.howard@therialto.co.uk

Competition Rules

• Closing date of the Competition is midnight on April 1 2025.
• The Competition is open to anyone over the age of 18, other than Rialto team members and staff of the RSPB, CCI, UK staff of BirdLife International and the University of Leeds Poetry Centre.
• Poems must have a title and must be no more than 40 lines, excluding the title, and be typed in black ink on one side of A4. The restriction of 40 lines does not include the poem title or stanza breaks, only the lines of the poem’s text.
• Poems must be the original work of the entrant and must not have been published, self-published or published online or broadcast. Poems are judged anonymously so the poet’s name address etc., MUST NOT appear on the poem.
• If entering poems online via Submittable, In the ‘title’ field on Submittable form please only enter a title that does not include your name – e.g ‘3 poems for Nature and Place Comp’ or simply list your poem titles.
• Poems must be written in English.
• No corrections can be made to poems entered, nor can fees be refunded.
• Entries cannot be returned.
• If you require confirmation that your postal entry has arrived please enclose a stamped self-addressed postcard marked ‘Acknowledgement’.
• Copyright of each poem remains with the poet, but by entering the competition you give the organisers the right to publish the winning poems both online and in printed media.
• The judge’s decision is final and neither they nor the organisers will enter into any correspondence.
• Prizewinners will be notified in May and lists of the prizewinners and the long-listed contestants will be published on The Rialto website.
• The competition organisers reserve the right to change the judge without notice and not to award prizes if in the judge’s opinion such an action is justified.

There are a limited number of free entries available for writers on low or supported incomes. These will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis and will cover the submission of up to two poems. To enter, please email your work to matt.howard@therialto.co.uk . Entries will be anonymised and entered into the Submittable system.