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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November 25

Bradt Travel Guides & The Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards

Unpublished writers

Three finalists invited to attend the prize-giving:
the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards Presented by Viking in London in early 2025

1st prize: 4-night break to Pas-de-Calais in northern France, with a tailormade itinerary taking in the region’s towns, coastal villages, countryside and cultural sites.

Winner also commissioned to write an article about their trip,
to be published on the Bradt website, as well as in Traveller magazine.
2 runners-ups: three Bradt guides of their choice.

All shortlisted pieces published on the Bradt website.

Judges: Hilary Bradt, founder of Bradt Guides; Adrian Phillips, MD of Bradt Guides;

Hugh Brune, Commercial Director of Bradt Guides; Amy Sohanpaul, editor of Traveller Magazine; Jonathan Lorie, travel-writing trainer and author of The Travel Writer’s Way.

Theme: ‘A Hasty Exit’

NB, do not use as title but original piece of writing, 600 and 800 words
which focuses on this topic. Not compulsory to include the phrase
but must very clearly adhere to this theme: true story,
based on the writer’s personal experience, written as a first-hand account,
in the first person and in English.
Travel Writing Competition, Bradt Guides, 31A High Street, Chesham, Bucks HP5 1BW

www.bradtguides.com/new-travel-writer-of-the-year-2025/

The 39th Poetry Business International Book & Pamphlet Competition

Judge: Kim Moore

Deadline: 30 November 2024

Submission: A collection of 20 pages of poetry
Prize: The two winners will receive expert close editing and support in extending their entry
if they wish to up to 28 pages for pamphlet publication
under our award-winning imprint Smith|Doorstop Books.
They also receive £500 each, publication in The North magazine,
and readings at The Wordsworth Trust and online.
Four runners-up receive publication in a feature in The North magazine,
an online reading and an honorarium of £100 each.
Cost: Full-price entry is £29.
Subscribers to The North, Friends of the Poetry Business, and members of the Poetry Society
are eligible for the discounted fee of £27.
All entrants receive a 10% code that can be used to purchase Poetry Book Society membership.
More details:
https://poetrybusiness.co.uk/competitions/the-international-book-pamphlet-competition/

The 2024 National Poetry Competition

Run annually by The Poetry Society since 1978,
one of the most prestigious poetry competitions for a single unpublished poem

Open to all poets worldwide aged 18 or over

1st prize: £5000
2nd: £2000; 3rd: £1000; commendations: £500 each.
Top three winners published in The Poetry Society’s journal The Poetry Review

Notified by the end of February 2025; awards event, Spring 2025

Judges: Romalyn Ante, John McAuliffe, Stephen Sexton
Fee: £8, then £5 each.
Poetry Society members (including those joining at time of submission): one additional poem free.

Length: 40 lines

Enter online by midnight on October 31

www.poetrysociety.org.uk/npc

The Bedford Competition

International Short Story & Poetry Awards
Over 17s
Deadline: 31 October 2024

Short Story Competition – up to 3000 words Poetry Competition – up to 40 lines

TBC is a nonprofit group, with donations made to literary causes

Short Story judge: Liv Maidment; Poetry Judge: Jessica Mookherjee

Prizes: £1500, £300 and £200

Cygnature Prizes, sponsored by the University of Bedfordshire, for writers aged 17-25
Also, prizes for local Bedford residents

Entry fees: £8.50 or 3 for £17. Students, £6 or 3 for £12

Details: www.bedfordwritingcompetition.co.uk

Sonnet or Not 2024

Cannon Poets invite you to submit poems of 14 lines –

which may or may not keep close to the sonnet form – (or not at all!)

First Prize: £500

Judge: Deborah Alma

www.cannonpoets.org.uk

or Hon. Sec. Cannon Poets, 22, Margaret Grove, Birmingham, B17 9JH

Closing date 31st October

Ironbridge Festival Poetry Competition
Closing Date: October 20
Open to poets from across the globe, and poems on any and every subject are welcome
1st prize: £300
2nd prize of £125; 3 x 3d prizes of £25 each. Local prize: £50
Maximum length: 35 lines Fee: £4.00; £10.00/3
Judge: Paul Francis
https://pandemonialists.co.uk/ironbridge-poetry-competition-2024/

October 19th, Midnight
Coast to Coast to Coast Individual Poet Prize

Prize: a mini portfolio of poems stitched between unique covers
with a launch in Liverpool during 2025
Submit a manuscript of 12 pages of poetry
Full details below
www.mariaisakova.com/individualpoet-journals-competition

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

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