A lady called Tammy Allen recently joined the Hay Writers' Circle, and she's just had a book of poetry published.
The book is called Roots, and it's published by The Conrad Press. Tammy is a Mental Health Counsellor from the Swansea Valley, and the poems deal with her experiences of loss, grief, healing and acceptance in the face of adversity. Each poem is illustrated by Sion Rees.
Submissions for the 2026 Hay Writers' Circle poetry competition are now open.
Poems should be original, unpublished, a maximum of 40 lines in length, and on any theme.
The judge this year is Lesley Saunders, a prize winning author of several poetry collections, and translator of modern Portuguese poetry.
For full details, visit the website at www.haywriters.com
Closing date is 7th April.
It's time for the Hay Writers' Circle Poetry Competition again. It's open to all, and this year the poems should be on the theme of food.
Poems should be original and unpublished, and a maximum of 40 lines. Winning poems may be published on the Hay Writers' Circle website. First prize is £100, with cash prizes for second and third place.
The judge this year is Susan Evans, an award winning artist and writer. She writes poetry for stage and on the page, on themes including food and travel, and she can be found online at www.facebook.com/SusanEvansPoet
The closing date for the competition is 9th April, and full details of how to take part can be found at https://thehaywriters.wordpress.com
There were a lot of entries this time - around fifty, and the judge complimented the high standards.
The winner was Michelle Pearce, of the Hay Writers Group, and the runner up was also from Hay Writers - Jean O'Donoghue. In third place was Jaz Slade from Devon, and two other writers were highly commended.
It's time for the Hay Writers' Circle poetry competition again.
The competition is open to all, with a first prize of £100, and smaller cash prizes for second and third places.
The poems must be original and unpublished, a maximum of 40 lines, and on any subject.
Closing date is 15th March.
The judge this year is Dr Jack McGowan, the Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Head of Department of English, Media and Culture at the University of Worcester.
For full details visit https://thehaywriters.wordpress.com
The Hay Writers' Circle are holding a competition - it's the Frances Copping Memorial Prize for Fiction, named after the lifetime president of the Circle, who died last year.
The competition is open to anyone, members or non-members, and should be of a piece of fiction between 600 and 1500 words, on any theme. The closing date is Tuesday 16th November, and the fee is £5 payable by cheque or BACS. The entry form can be found on the Hay Writers blog at https://thehaywriters.wordpress.com
There are also cash prizes, sponsored by Parthian Press, of £50 first prize, £15 second prize and £10 third prize. Parthian Books are a Welsh publisher, based in Cardigan, and the publishing manager, Carly Holmes, has agreed to judge the competition this year.
Hay Writers' Circle is sponsoring the Richard Booth Prize for Non-Fiction. They've just announced the name of the judge on their blog - Roland White of the Sunday Times (and other publications).
The theme of the competition is open, and the entries should be between 600 and 1950 words long, double spaced in Ariel font size 12. Winning entries will be posted on the Hay Writers' Circle website. The closing date for entries is 6th July, and the winners will be announced in late July. It costs £5 to enter.
The last Hay Writers' Group competition got forty entries from all over the world.
The winner was Ojo Tiaye from Nigeria; the second prize went to Stewart Roberts from Clyro and the third prize went to Anje Grunsell from Clifford.
The next competition is the Richard Booth Non-Fiction Prize, and the closing date is 29th June - details to be posted on the Hay Writers' website soon.
Normally, they'd put out flyers, but that's not really an option at the moment.
Hay Writers Circle are holding a poetry competition, and they've got Mel Prince from the Poetry Bookshop as their judge. This isn't the first time she's been a judge - in 2015 she was one of the judges for the Costa Book Award.
The closing date is 16th March. It's an open theme, so any subject, to a maximum of 40 lines. The details are on the Hay Writers' Circle website - the link is in the side bar. The entry fee is £5 for one poem, but up to four poems can be submitted for a fee of £10.
The first prize is £100, second prize £25 and third prize £15, with winning poems published on the Writers Circle website with the author's permission.
