The Astyanax · Winter 2026
The Astyanax Winter Poetry Competition
Theme: Winter in London
Open until Sunday 20 December
The Theme
Winter in London
Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city.
Charles Dickens, Bleak House, 1853
The Astyanax Winter Poetry Competition is open to emerging writers anywhere, with one poem each. This year’s theme is winter in London: fog on the river, frost in the parks, lamps coming on at four, the last train home, or any London winter you have known or imagined. The five best poems will be published on the site, and the winner will appear in print in the Winter 2026 Quarterly, our founding issue.
A Frost Fair Keepsake
In February 1814 the Thames froze for the last time, and London held a fair on the ice. Printers carried their presses onto the river and sold verses to the crowds. We are keeping up the custom.
Printed on the River Thames, 1814
Information
- Theme
- Winter in London
- Entries
- One poem per person
- Length
- Up to 150 lines
- Entry
- Free
- Closes
- Sunday 20 December
- Results
- In the Weekly, January
- Prize
- The winner in print, in the Winter 2026 Quarterly
- Shortlist
- The top five published on the site
The Rules
- I.
Poems must be your own and unpublished, in print or online, and not under consideration elsewhere while we read them.
- II.
Each writer may enter one poem. Send the one you most want us to read.
- III.
You keep your copyright. If your poem is chosen, we ask for first publication rights.
Sign in, start a new piece, and choose the Winter Poetry Competition.
