Wingword Poetry Competition

Wingword Poetry Competition is a brilliant opportunity for budding poets from across the India to compete and showcase their talent. Our objective is to establish a platform that nurtures emerging voices, facilitating the expression of diverse experiences and boundless imagination through the eloquent medium of poetry.

In the seventh year of the competition, Wingword will award INR 8,32,500 to the prizewinners and publish multiple anthologies featuring the works of the winners.

Wingword offers several categories in which submissions can be made. The Main Category is Indian nationals who write in English, the Regional Category is for Indian nationals who write in many regional languages of India such as Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Assamese and Gujarati. Additionally, the Junior Category is dedicated to young Indian nationals under the age of 15 who compose in either Hindi or English.

If you are a beginner poet who loves expressing your thoughts and emotions, you should send your poems to the competition! You could be the next winner.

Announcement: We are currently accepting submissions for Wingword Poetry Prize, you can submit now!

Wingword Competition 2024 - submissions open from 1st February 2024

Main Category 2024 ( English Language poems for 15 year olds and above)

The prizes below are for Wingword Poetry Prize (Main) for poems written in English language.

1st Prize: INR 50,000 + Book Publication

2nd Prize: INR 30,000

3rd Prize: INR 20,000

The top 10 rankholders will receive INR 10,000

100 Commendable Mentions are published in the annual Wingword anthology

Results will be announced in June 2024. All winners and commendable mentions are invited to attend Wingword’s annual prizegiving ceremony held in New Delhi in July 2024.

Regional Languages Competition 2024 ( Other Language poems for 15 years old and above)

The prizes below are for Regional Languages Competition for poems written in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Assamese and Gujarati.

1st Prize: INR 25,000

2nd Prize: INR 15,000

3rd Prize: INR 10,000

Top 10 Winners: INR 5,000

A chapbook with poems of all winners will be published. All authors will receive a copy of the book at their mailing address.

Results will be announced in June 2024. All winners and commendable mentions are invited to attend Wingword’s annual prizegiving ceremony held in New Delhi in July 2024.

Junior Competition 2024 for Children ( Only Hindi and English language poems for 7 to 15 year olds)

For students aged 7 to 15 years old, we have introduced Junior Poetry Competition, giving young minds a chance to showcase their talent, creativity and imagination. We believe that poetry is the art of using language in its best capacity. Its knowledge is not only required for excelling in English tests, but it can help children in being focused and centered. The poetry competition is built to recognise such talented individuals and provide them with the right platform.

1st Prize Rs 10,000

2nd Prize: Rs 7,500

 3rd Prize Rs 5,000

20 commendable mentions along with the winners will be published in a chapbook

A chapbook with poems of all winners will be published. All authors will receive a copy of the book at their mailing address.

Results will be announced in June 2024. All winners and commendable mentions are invited to attend Wingword’s annual prizegiving ceremony held in New Delhi in July 2024.

Rules

1. You must be an Indian national, resident of India or a person of Indian origin to enter the competition.

2. Poems submitted in the competition must be originally written by you.

3. We accept poems written in English for the Wingword Poetry Prize (Main).

4. If you write in your mother tongue: Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Assamese, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, Malyalam, Tamil, Odia or Gujarati, please visit Regional Languages Category by clicking here.

5. Any length and style of poetry is accepted.

6. We welcome all themes, for example personal topics such as love, family, childhood, identity as well as social issues such as women’s rights, corruption, violence and climate change.

7. We encourage beginners to participate. If your work displays merit, it will be shortlisted.

8. Previously published poems are allowed.

9. This is a writing competition. Performance is not required anywhere. Submission has to be made online through our website.

10. The judging criteria for the competition is based on the use of language, the vividness of imagery and the ability of the poem to evoke certain emotions from the reader. In Arjuna Perkins words, “Goal of good poetry is to say a lot with a little, and do it memorably.”

Submission Process

Choose the number of poems you would like to enter into the competition and then pay the respective entry fee for it. Once the fee is paid on the website, the participants will automatically be redirected to the submission form. Kindly fill the form with your typed poem and click ‘Submit’ button to enter, a confirmation email will be sent to you immediately after. The fee to submit one poem, three poems, five poems and ten poems is INR 1000, INR 2000, INR 3000, INR 5000 respectively.

Please note: If your poem has special formatting that the form is not supporting, you can mail your entry to info@wingword.in in Word Document after paying the entry fee. Kindly include the screenshot of your payment with your email so we can confirm your entry from our side.You will receive a confirmation email from us once our team has received your poems.