The 23rd Christopher Tower Poetry Competition opened for entries on 10 October 2022, with students between 16-18 years of age challenged to write a poem on the theme ‘The Planets.’
The Tower Poetry Competition offers the UK’s most valuable prize for young poets. The competition is free to enter and it is open to students between 16-18 years of age who are educated in the UK.
The competition is judged anonymously by two guest judges, who are different each year, and the Christopher Tower Student. Each year the theme is chosen with the intention of giving entrants free rein to interpret it as widely as they like.
Christ Church, one of the largest colleges of Oxford University, is strongly committed to teaching and research. A large body of academics teaches their students in tutorials, a system that enables undergraduates to work with experienced tutors in small groups.
The subjects offered at Christ Church cover the whole spectrum, including Arts, Social Sciences, and Physical Sciences.
There is also a thriving and multi-disciplinary graduate community. Both undergraduates and graduates benefit from the college’s central location, its excellent library, and its beautiful setting, adjacent to Christ Church Meadow. Other facilities include the Picture Gallery (containing a rich collection of paintings and drawings), the Art Room, and the Music Room.
The college invests heavily in the support of its members, and there are generous grants available for financial assistance as well as for travel and for book purchases. Accommodation is available to undergraduates for the full length of their course.
Christ Church is famous for its connection with two fictional figures: Alice in Wonderland, the creation of the 19th-century mathematics tutor Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), and Harry Potter (the film version of Hogwarts was partly based on Christ Church Hall). But there have been many real-life alumni of historical importance: among them John Locke the philosopher (who was actually thrown out for his then controversial opinions); William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania; W.E.Gladstone, four times Prime Minister (a splendid portrait of him by Millais hangs in the Hall); the poet W.H.Auden; Frederick Lindemann, scientific adviser to Churchill; and many others. Albert Einstein too was briefly given hospitality and membership in the college, when he fled to England from Nazi persecution.
Location:
OnlineBenefits
- An award of £5000 for the best single poem on the theme of ‘The Planets’
- A second prize of £3000
- A third prize of £1500
- A prize of £500 for each of the ten runners-up
Eligibilities
- Entrants must be at least 16 years of age, and under 19 years of age, on 24 February 2023.
- Entrants must be in full or part-time education at a school, college or other educational institution in the United Kingdom. Students enrolled on higher education courses are not eligible to enter the competition.
- Entries for the Tower Poetry Prize 2023 must be on the designated theme.
- Entries must be written in English, and be no more than 48 lines in length.
- Entry must be made via the website, with true and accurate information given.
Note:
- Each entrant may submit only one poem.
- Poems with joint authorship are ineligible.
- Poems must not have been previously published, broadcast, or submitted to another competition.
- The competition is not open to family members or close relatives of employees of Christ Church, Oxford.
Application Process
- To start the application process, applicants will have to create a Submittable account at https://towerpoetry.submittable.com/signup?returnUrl=%2fsubmit%2f239148%2fthe-christopher-tower-poetry-competition-2023
- After creating the account, the application has to be made through the online form of the program
Application Deadline: February 24, 2023
Application ClosedOfficial link
