About Poetry Place
Welcome to Read Manchester’s ‘Poetry Place’! A monthly poetry competition created for all ages and minds. Poetry Place’s purpose is to re-introduce creative writing into the community and discover what we can create with our writing skills. Each month, there will be a writing prompt that will serve as the inspiration for your submission. A small set of suggestions will accompany each prompt — made to challenge your skills and help you experiment with poetry from various technical perspectives.
How to enter
Please send your poem based on that month's theme via email to Read Manchester before the deadline. See the Terms and Conditions here.
There will be three monthly winners; one from each category of Primary, Secondary, and Adult, will win £20 worth of book vouchers ready to use at any bookshop.
This month's deadline
31 March 2024, midnight.
March's theme: March Madness
To coin the phrase ‘March Madness’, this month we’re going to write a poem about something silly, topsy-turvy, or downright crazy! You could write about a world where huge blue birds walk upright and take over the world, or perhaps we all have six eyes and talk in gibberish – like Yoda or the Mad Hatter! Maybe we all ride in bubbles across the sky? Alternatively, to celebrate World Book Day, you could write about something funny and/or ridiculous you read in a book! Write about a world where anything goes!
Inspiration for your poem
If you're not sure where to start, try a game of word association and see where it takes you. For example, pick a word like "beans" and then write down something you associate with beans, like "toast". Then something you associate with toast, maybe "breakfast" and then "morning" and so on. See how far you can get from your original word and then choose one of your most interesting words to base your poem around!
We've also found some fabulous poems to inspire you.
Funny poems for teens and adults
Your poem can be any length, any technique. Simply let your thoughts flow.