Simon Powell the founder of Poetry Live! died in October 2009 after surviving cancer for ten remarkable years. It was Simon's passion and energy that drove Poetry Live! to make great poetry accessible to hundreds of thousands of students over the years.
       All of us, poets, examiners, the whole family of Poetry Live! will miss him for ever, but we will also continue to be inspired by him. Every Poetry Live! day we take part in is really a tribute to him, a continuation of his work and his great spirit.
        I think he would be pleased that this year we are awarding the Simon Powell Poetry Prize in his honour.

Daniel Powell

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Simon was always a champion of new poetry, which is why last year he started the Poetry Live Competition. We thought it would be fitting to carry on this great idea and rename it in his memory.

Entry requirements

The only entry requirement is that each applicant is a GCSE student who has attended Poetry Live! with their school in the academic year 2009/2010.
To enter, a student must submit by post a single poem of not more than 25 lines. Only a poem on paper will be accepted - not an email. It should be accompanied by the following details, which must be on a separate sheet of paper (not on the same sheet as the poem):

Full name
Age
Full address including postcode
Telephone number
Email address
Name of school
Name of English teacher who organised the Poetry Live! trip
Date of the Poetry Live! trip

All entries must be received by Friday 26th March 2010.

The address is:
The Simon Powell Poetry Prize, Poetry Live Ltd.,
PO Box 29, Denbigh, North Wales LL16 3YE
Every entry will be read by the judging panel - all distinguished poets - a short list drawn up and from this a short list of ten will be chosen.
The winners will be announced on Monday 7th June.

The Prize
This year, the prize will be an invitation to a workshop with Daljit Nagra and a chance to read your winning poem at a Poetry Live! event.
Finally, you will get a signed set of books from the poets.