​​The 2022 Festival
Poetry and Photography Competitions
are now closed

We are pleased to announce our national award-winning judges
PASCALE PETIT & CAROL SHARP

Shortlisted entries will be displayed at the Shepton Snowdrops Festival
​over the weekend of 19 and 20 February 2022. 
​The prize giving will take place at 2pm on Saturday 19 February in Shepton Mallet.

2022 Poetry Competition

We are pleased to announce that our judge, Pascale Petit, is a prolific award winning poet. Her seventh poetry collection Mama Amazonica won the inaugural Laurel Prize in 2020, the RSL Ondaatje Prize in 2018 and was shortlisted for the Roehampton Poetry Prize. IN 2018 she was appointed as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Serbian, Romanian and French.
 
Pascale explains what she will be looking for in the poems she will be judging:
 
“With climate crisis and mass extinctions, it’s easy to lose hope. But I think it’s crucial that we nurture our sense of wonder in the natural world, and focus on its awe and beauty, as well as the darkness. When I see an animal, a tree, or a river, I want to see it as I did once, through the new eyes of a baby, but it’s hard to recapture that first enchantment. Poems offer us ways back into the magical, so I’ll be looking out for poems that surprise with their words and imagery – if there’s any wonder, there will also be hope.”   

Competition details here

2022 Photography Competition

We are pleased to announce that our judge is Carol Sharp, a national award winning photographic artist, renowned for her lyrical composition, attention to detail and delicate touch with light. Her images have been widely published and have included RHS Chelsea Flower Show posters and two sets of Royal Mail stamps.
 
Carol explains what she will be looking for in the photographic entries:
"Long before winter has retreated, the promise of spring is announced by the charming white lanterns of the snowdrops. They epitomise hope as their green shoots emerge from the cold, dark earth when all around is still bare and lifeless. This renewal of life from dormancy and absence reassures us that the cycles and seasons will endure, which particularly resonates with us at this time.
 
"I will be looking for imaginative images that may illustrate this concept, as well as captures of snowdrops expressing their particular way of being in the world."
​

Competition details here

There are three age groups for each competition 
11 & Under - prize £50
12 to 17 - prize £70
​18 & Over - prize £200

Want inspiration?
​Click the links below to see the 2020 results:
POETRY & PHOTOGRAPHY

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