Orbis 209, Autumn 2024

Front cover artwork: ‘Underworld’ by David Jones
Back cover, detail from image: www.davidjonesart.artweb.com

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Orbis 200: What a beautiful looking edition ! Must get this. 
Congratulations on the magazine’s longevity and high standards

  (Anna Saunders, Director at Cheltenham Poetry Festival)

Orbis 200: ‘All the best to you, and to Orbis!’
(Glyn Maxwell; shortlisted for Best Collection in the Forward Prize)


‘Best wishes for the journal – and congratulations on such a successful magazine over the years’ (Joy Harjo, United States Poet Laureate)

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Single issue: £6.00 (Overseas: £12/€14/$16); Subs: £20/4 pa (Overseas: £45/€50/$60)

Associate Editor (Book Reviews): Maria Isakova-Bennett

Reviews by: Philip Dunkerley, David Harmer, Jenny Hockey,
D.A. Prince, Theresa Sowerby, Pam Thompson

Please note with new collections, press release in first instance
to the Book Reviews Editor – not review copies.

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Literary journal that we are, still room of course for Dr. Basudhara Roy’s 
Littoral Dream, and I expect you, along with Sue Wallace-Shaddad 
will be Finding That Connection though perhaps at first a little Adrift,
like Kathryn Daszkiewicz. If so, join Gill McEvoy at The Sunday
Quaker Meeting, and then Mike Farren could introduce you to 
Lily, Edmund and boy, or Ian Harker, to The Shape-Shifting Ghosts
Of Byland Abbey; the latter may also make you wonder,
as does Nigel King:   Where is thy sting? Well, instead, you
and Linda Ann Strang  could be  Swimming The Sacramento,
or discovering why Kevin Bailey  is At Eastbury, Berkshire. 
And if you worry about it all going  To dust (Andy Oram),
or feeling Blue, maybe Sukrita Paul Kumar’s poem
can help, or Patrick Moran’s Robin –
 or any of those waiting for you to enjoy in this issue.

Featured Writers

More winning poems from the Red Shed Competition:

Heather DeLand, Bound for Greatness;
Lisa Falshaw, Love letter & Birds at Bempton Cliffs;
Mike Farren, Lily, Edmund and boy;
Ian Harker, The Shape-Shifting Ghosts Of Byland Abbey;
Nigel King, Where is thy sting?

Poets include Keko Prijatelj, His wife and himself;
Anne Sheppard, I sit here sipping pink champagne;
Linda Ann Strang, Ghost in the Jonquil;
Ping Yi Yee, The Blade Sings Life: Safety First

Prose from Rosie Adamson-Clark, A Woman Of Syria;
Anthony Head, Last Post from Tokyo;
Anne Sheppard, The Birthday Present 

Translation: Marc Tritsmans, Nadering; translated by John Irons

Past Master: A C Clarke on Paul Éluard

Orbis 209 Contributors also include
Anna Bowles; Attracta Fahy; Linda Ford; Bill Greenwell; Pauline Hall;
Chris Hard
y; Betty Hasler; Derek Healy; DG Herring; Dr Kuli Kohli;
John Lanyon; Daphne Milne; Annie Klier Newcomer; Donna Pucciani;
Chris Scriven; Colm Scully; Michael Swan;
Vivienne Tregenza

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The VOLE Summer Competition

​’AUTUMN MAKES ME SING’

Open to international entries
Entries invited up to 31st July 2024

NO THEME (despite the title):

Dorothy Parker famously said:

‘Summer makes me drowsy.

Autumn makes me sing.

Winter’s pretty lousy,

but I hate Spring.’

Poems on any subject are invited

1st Prize: £50; 2nd Prize: £30; 3rd Prize: £20.

50 poems will be selected and published in an anthology
and all poets included will receive a free copy
www.dempseyandwindle.com/competition.html

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Second Light Competition for long and short poems by women.
Deadline 6th August. Online or postal entries.
 Judge, Wendy French’s latest poetry collection
is Bread Without Butter (Rockingham Press, 2020).
Prizes £325 each long & short/£175/£100; publication in ARTEMISpoetry and online.
One free entry for Second Light members.
Details: http://www.secondlightlive.co.uk/downloads/comp24.pdf

THE FINGAL POETRY PRIZE 2024
For poems in English
Open to all writers nationally and internationally

Entries must be submitted by June 30th 
The winner will receive €500 with awards of €300 and €200 for 2nd and 3rd place 
Judge: Peter Sirr
Prize giving ceremony in Skerries, Saturday September 14th as Part of Fingal Poetry Festival
Rules and full details of how to enter: https://fingalpoetryfestival.com  
AN FIACH DUBH 2024
Irish Language Competition 
Open to all writers nationally and internationally.
All poems must be composed in the Irish language. No translations to be sent with poems.  
Entries must be submitted by June 30th 
The winner will receive €500 with awards of €300 and €200 for 2nd and 3rd place 
Judge: Brid Ni Mhorain
Rules and full details of how to enter: https://fingalpoetryfestival.com

Wigtown International Poetry Prize

awards £1500 to the winning entry,

welcoming poems of up to 40 lines, on any theme.

Worldwide entries are welcome.

Entry Fee: £7

Deadline: 6 May, 2024

Visit www.wigtownpoetryprize.com for full details

The Anne Brown Essay Prize

£1500 for the best literary essay by a writer in or from Scotland.

Invites fresh, insightful short-form writing

Entries may be on any subject and entry is free.

Deadline: 31 May, 2024

Name: Creative Writing NZ Short Story Prize 2024

Country: International competition open to entrants worldwide.

Closing date: 11.59pm(NZST) on April 30, 2024

Results announced: by June 30th, 2024

Judge: Lucie Brownlee

1st prize: $1,000, a free creative writing course of the winners choice and publication on our website.

Runners-up: $200 each and a free creative writing course of choice.

Entry fee: $9

Word count: 3,000 words maximum.

Open theme/subject/genre

Link: https://creativewriting.co.nz/competition/the-creative-writing-nz-short-story-prize-2024/

Ver Poets Open Competition 2024
Judge Merryn Williams
Closing Date April 30th 2024
1st prize £600; 2nd prize £300; 3rd prize £100
plus anthology of winning and selected poems The Ver Prize 2024
Entry fee: £4 per poem, 3 poems for £10, £3 per poem thereafter
Theme and form open; no more than 30 lines
Entries to Competitions Secretary 23 Nightingale Walk Windsor SL4 3HS
or by email terryjones49@googlemail.com
entry form and details on website www.verpoets.co.uk

Southport Writers’ Circle Annual International Poetry Competition 2024

Closing date: 30/04/24

Chief Judge: Judith Railton

£3 per entry or 4 for £10

First Prize: £150, Second Prize: £75, Third Prize: £25

Catherine Fenerty Humour Prize: £25

All entries must be original and unpublished (including online)

Max 40 lines

English Only (dialect allowable)

Entry Details and Full Rules at http://www.swconline.co.uk

The Rooker Prize 2024
Chair of Judging Panel: Karen Dobres (former Lewes FC director, founder of The Rooker Prize)
Judges: Georgia Byng (children’s author); Suzie Wrack (writer and football journalist), Mark Crick (author)
Write the first 250 words of your novel or memoir and send them in to Rooker@LewesFC.com,
subject line: ROOKER PRIZE ENTRY, including your name and contact details
1st Prize: £250 to a charity of your choice, a trophy,
and a session with a top editor at Hachette UK’s headquarters in London
Highly Commended: features on Lewes FC’s website
All entrants must be owners of 100% community-owned Lewes Football Club.
It’s easy to become an owner for £50 – sign up for your single share here:

https://lewesfc.com/become-an-owner
Full details: https://lewesfc.com/news/the-rooker-prize-2024
Closing Date: Friday 19th April 2024
Winner Announced on 27th April 2024 (International Crow and Raven Appreciation Day)
The Rooker Prize is sponsored by The Rockonteurs and Hachette UK

Judge: Billy Collins

Closes: 31 March, 2024

Results: July, 2024

Entry Fees: €14 (€9 subsequent entries); Word Limit: 60 lines

1st Prize: €1000
2nd Prize: Online Writing Course; week at Anam Cara + €300;
3rd: €300

Top 10 stories published in the FISH ANTHOLOGY 2024;
launched during the West Cork Literary Festival (July 2024)

Fish Publishing, Durrus, Bantry, Co Cork, Ireland
Online writing courses in short story, flash fiction, poetry and memoir;
and full range of editorial services for writers, see

info@fishpublishing.com www.fishpublishing.com

Closing date: Saturday, 30th March, 2024

Sole Adjudicator: Carole Baldock (Editor of Orbis)

1st Prize: £100
2nd Prize £50; Highly Commended: £20

Wakefield Postcode Winner: £25

Around half a dozen of the winning poems
may also be published in Orbis

Enter online or by post

Entry fee: £3 for the first poem, £2 for subsequent poems.

Financial assistance available by request.

Full details available: www.currockpress.com

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