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Jane Martin Poetry Prize

The National Poetry Competition

Jane Martin Poetry Prize

The Jane Martin Poetry Prize is a national poetry competition, established in 2010, in memory of Girton alumna, Jane Elizabeth Martin (1978, Classics) through the generous support of her family.

Now in its 16th year, this national prize for young poets is a key part of the College’s support for poetry. The competition is judged by experts drawn from across the literary world and academia. In 2026, the panel of judges were Sarah Howe and John Clegg.

The winner will receive a cash prize of £1000 and there will also be a second prize of £500. Both prize-winners will have an opportunity to give a reading at a celebratory event at Girton College, at which the prizes will be awarded. 

The Jane Martin Poetry Prize 2027 will open on Monday 2 November 2026.

The Prize Event will be held on Thursday 25 February 2027. Entrants must be resident in the UK and between the ages of 18 and 30 on Thursday 25 February 2027. 

2027 Competition 

Submissions open: 2 November 2026

Submission deadline: 30 November 2026

Award ceremony: 25 February 2027

Before submitting, please view the full Terms and Conditions of the prize.

Submit here: Link coming soon

Meet the 2027 Judges

Kirsten Irving Kirsten Irving, poet, editor, and publisher whose poetry has been commissioned by the BBC, awarded the Live Canon International Prize, published by Salt (Never Never Never Come Back), and Guillemot (Hot Cockalorum).

 

 

Susannah DickeySusannah Dickey, poet and novelist from Derry. Her debut poetry collection, ISDAL (Picador, 2023) won the Inaugural PEN Heaney Prize, the Michael Murphy Memorial Prize, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, and was book of the year in The Guardian and The Irish Times.

 

 

 

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Jane Martin Poetry Prize 2026.

First Prize was awarded to Will Moorfoot for his poems 'Muntjac', 'Great Grandmother Moon'.

Second Prize was awarded to Yanita Georgieva for her poems 'Long Story Short', 'Dead Last'.

The 2026 judging panel were Sarah Howe and John Clegg.

Sarah Howe is a Hong Kong-born poet and editor. Her first book, Loop of Jade (2015), won the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award. Her second book, Foretokens (2025) is a PBS Choice and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize. She is poetry editor at Chatto & Windus. 

John Clegg is a poet and bookseller. His most recent poetry collection is Aliquot (2023).

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Jane Martin Poetry Prize in the context of the Girton Poetic Tradition, Girton College is delighted to announce the publication a special anthology, including a selection of poems from eminent Girtonian poets, both past and present, as well as the winning poems and new ones from the Jane Martin Poetry Prize winners from the past decade. “Ten Years of The Jane Martin Poetry Prize: Celebrating Prize-Winning Poetry at Girton College” edited by Malcolm Guite and Grevel Lindop is available for purchase via our online shop.

The anniversary of the prize was also celebrated during Girton College’s first Festival of Poetry in May 2020, where current Members of College read a selection of the poems to be featured in the Anthology and which can be viewed on our YouTube playlist.

Malcolm Guite’s specially written poem celebrating the People’s Portraits: Portraits by Moonlight

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