If you are looking for competitions to inspire your students to do some creative writing or poetry, here are two options which are currently open for entries.

I Know I Wish I Will

I know I wish I will is a free spoken word competition for young people between the ages of 5 and 25, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Run by Eastside Educational Trust, there are lots of teaching resources (including videos and lesson plans) available on their website, which are suitable for both primary and secondary school teachers. To enter the competition, students can send a video of themselves performing their poem, along with the text of their entry. The deadline for entering the competition is the 20th December. 500 performers will then be selected to take part in a 25 hour spoken word poetry marathon in London’s West End, an event which will be streamed online. All poems that are performed will also be published in an anthology.

 

Wicked Young Writers

This creative writing competition is also open to young people between the ages of 5 and 25 years old. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the competition is opening for entries today (17th October). There are also lots of teaching resources and lesson plans available on its website. The winners of the competition will receive tickets to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, an exclusive backstage tour and £50 worth of books or ebook tokens. And all 120 finalists will have their poems printed in the Wicked Young Writer Awards anthology.