Everything you need to know before entering the Happiful Poetry Prize

General

  • The promoter of the Happiful Poetry Prize 2027 is Memiah Limited, trading as Happiful [Building B, Riverside Way, Camberley, GU15 3YL].
  • The competition is open to anyone aged 18 or over at the time of entering.
  • Entry is free.
  • Entrants must be resident in the United Kingdom.
  • The deadline for entries is 11.59pm on 30 October 2026. Late entries will not be considered.
  • Only one entry per person is permitted.
  • Once an entry has been submitted, no changes can be made to it.
  • Entries must be submitted through the online submission form. Postal entries, or poems submitted by any other means, will not be accepted.
  • Employees of Memiah Limited who work on Happiful, current paid Happiful freelancers, competition judges, and anyone directly involved in administering the competition are not eligible to enter.
  • Entries will be judged anonymously by a judging panel that includes at least one member who is demonstrably independent of Memiah Limited, the administration of the competition, and the pool of entrants.
  • The judges will be competent to assess poetry entries and their full names will be made available on request.
  • Eligible poems will be assessed by the judging panel on originality, quality of writing, emotional impact, and engagement with the theme of mental health or wellbeing. The panel will select one winning poem and four shortlisted poems based on these criteria.
  • The judges’ decision is final, and neither the judges nor Happiful staff will enter into correspondence regarding the outcome of the competition.
  • Happiful reserves the right to disqualify any entry that does not comply with these terms and conditions or is found to contain false or misleading information.
  • Happiful reserves the right to suspend, cancel, or amend the competition where circumstances outside its reasonable control make this unavoidable. - Any changes will be limited to those reasonably necessary and, wherever possible, will not materially disadvantage entrants who have already entered.

Your entry

  • All poems must have a title and must not exceed 25 lines in length, excluding the title.
  • Poems must be written in English.
  • Poems must be on the topic of mental health or wellbeing. Poems without a clear link to the topic will not be considered.
  • Poems must be the entrant’s own original work. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) must not be used to write, rewrite, or generate any part of the poem. Standard spelling and grammar-checking tools may be used, provided they do not generate or substantially rewrite creative content.
  • Poems must not have been previously published or made publicly available, including in print publications, online magazines, blogs, or on publicly accessible social media accounts.
  • Simultaneous submissions – where the same poem is submitted to other competitions or publications – are permitted. However, if your poem is accepted for publication elsewhere or wins another competition before judging is complete, you must notify Happiful immediately and withdraw your entry.
  • Entries must include the entrant’s full name, postcode, email address, and a short biography.
  • Poems must be submitted as a Word document (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf).
  • As entries are judged anonymously, your name or any other information that could identify you must not appear on the poem document itself.
  • By entering, you confirm that the poem is your own original work and that, to the best of your knowledge, its publication will not infringe the rights of any third party or give rise to any legal claim, including, but not limited to, claims relating to copyright, defamation, privacy, or confidentiality.
  • Poems must not contain material that is unlawful, defamatory, discriminatory, threatening, or which infringes another person’s privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, or other rights. Where a poem includes information about an identifiable third party, the entrant is responsible for ensuring that they have the right to include and publish that information.
  • Happiful reserves the right to decline, withdraw, or remove an entry from the competition or publication at any stage, including after judging or publication, where it reasonably believes publication would expose Happiful or another person to legal risk, breach these terms, or raise serious editorial or safeguarding concerns.

Winner and shortlisters

  • The winner and four shortlisted poets will be notified by email, using the email address provided with their entry, by 28 February 2027.
  • The winning poem and four shortlisted poems are due to be published in issue 120 of Happiful. The planned issue or publication date may change where reasonably necessary.
  • Happiful may make minor edits for spelling, grammar, formatting, house style, accessibility, or legal and editorial reasons. Happiful will not make material changes to the meaning of a winning or shortlisted poem without the author’s agreement.
  • The winner will receive £100, paid by bank transfer. Each of the four shortlisted poets will receive a £25 National Book Token.
  • The cash prize and National Book Tokens will be provided within 30 days of the winner and shortlisted poets being notified. There is no cash alternative to the National Book Token. If a National Book Token is unavailable for reasons outside Happiful’s reasonable control, Happiful may substitute a prize of equal or greater value.
  • Every entrant who submits a valid entry in accordance with these terms will be offered one complimentary ticket to an online poetry webinar organised by Happiful. Details, including the date, time, topic, participating poet, and instructions for accessing the webinar, will be sent to eligible entrants by 28 February 2027. Tickets are personal to the entrant, non-transferable, and cannot be exchanged for cash or any other alternative. Happiful reserves the right to make reasonable changes to the date, time, topic, or participating poet where necessary.
  • Copyright in each poem remains with its author. If an entrant is selected as the winner or one of the four shortlisted poets, they grant Memiah Limited, trading as Happiful, a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to publish, reproduce and make available the submitted poem, in full or in extract, in Happiful’s print and digital magazine and across Happiful’s website, newsletters and social media channels, including for the purposes of promoting the competition and the relevant publication. The author will be credited by their name or agreed pen name. Content already published by Happiful may remain available indefinitely in its print and digital archives and on its existing digital and social media channels.
  • To demonstrate that a valid award has taken place, Happiful will publish or make available on request the surname and county of the winner and, where applicable, their winning entry. The winner may object to this information being published or made available, or request that the amount of information published or made available is reduced, by contacting Happiful at hello@happiful.com. Happiful may nevertheless provide the winner’s information and winning entry to the Advertising Standards Authority if required.