Enter: EUGENE LEE-HAMILTON POETRY COMPETITION

DEADLINE: NOON 26 MAY

£60 Cash Prize

Eugene Lee-Hamilton was a poet and novelist who studied at Oriel (1864-66) who revived the use of Petrarchan Sonnets in his own work, and encouraged it in others. The poetry competition prize was founded by the late Mrs Eliza Ann Lee-Hamilton by bequest in 1943, in memory of Eugene James Lee-Hamilton who died in 1907, in order to encourage the composition of the Petrarchan sonnet in Oxford and Cambridge.

About the Competition

The Provost and Fellows of Oriel College offer an annual prize of £60 for the best Petrarchan Sonnet in English submitted by a current undergraduate of Oxford or Cambridge. The sonnet can be on a topic of the author’s choosing, and enjambment between the eighth and ninth lines is permitted. Sylvia Plath came second for the prize in 1957, so entrants are in good company!

2023 Competition

The Provost and Fellows of Oriel College offer an annual prize of £60 for the best Petrarchan Sonnet in English submitted by an undergraduate of Oxford or Cambridge. The sonnet can be on a topic of the author’s choosing, and enjambment between the eighth and ninth lines is permitted.

How to enter

To enter, please email your sonnet to Mrs Rebecca Bricklebank, Oriel College: rebecca.bricklebank@oriel.ox.ac.uk, by 12 noon on Friday 26th May 2023. Results will be announced by 23rd June 2023.

No candidate may submit more than one sonnet to the competition, and previous winners are not eligible to win again. Each sonnet must be accompanied by an email from the Head or a Fellow of the entrant’s college, confirming that the candidate is a current undergraduate student.

The winner will have been deemed to have given permission to publish his/her sonnet online on Oriel’s website, and in the Oriel Record.

 *This opportunity is not organised by Emma Experience. It is advertised as part of a curated selection, always refer to the source for more information, but if we can assist, get in touch!