Poets only have until the end of December to submit an entry to the 2022 Wolverhampton Literature Festival Poetry competition.

Hosted by the City of Wolverhampton Council, the festival returns from 4 to 6 February for its sixth year.

It aims to champion the creative voices of Wolverhampton and the West Midlands and provide a platform to showcase their talents.

As part of the festival, Poets Prattlers and Pandemonialists have organised their fifth annual poetry competition which sees poets from all over the world take part.

The theme for this year’s competition is ‘Sounds of the City’. Poets are invited to take judges and audiences to your market, to offer high street haiku or sing the praises of the local bus. Entries can include stories of sirens or sonnets to seagulls on rooftops.

This year the value of the top three prizes ranges from £25 to £50, and there will be a new prize category for poems sent in by people living in a WV postcode. These poems will be eligible for the main prizes, but in addition one WV poem will win £75, with two more getting runners-up prizes of £25.

The entry deadline is Friday, December 31, 2021.

Poems will be read, and winners chosen, by judge Casey Bailey, a writer, performer and educator born and raised in Nechells, Birmingham, and current Birmingham Poet Laureate.

City of Wolverhampton Council Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for City Economy, Councillor Stephen Simkins, said: “Last year was the most successful year for the poetry competition and, like the festival, reached global success.

“It is a great way for poets to get their creative juices flowing and sharing the sounds of their city across the world when travel has been limited over the past year.

“I wish all participants the best of luck and urge everyone to get involved and share their ‘Sounds of the City’.”

Steve Pottinger of Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists said: “It’s great to welcome the return of the Wolves Lit Fest poetry competition. This year, we’re especially delighted that the competition has introduced new and additional prizes exclusively for entries from a WV postcode in recognition of the creative talent within our area. Give it a go – it could be you!”

Please visit www.wolveslitfest.co.uk for more details of the competition and follow @wolveslitfest on Twitter and Facebook to keep updated on all the festival programming.