A poet from Hampshire will be honoured in the special Kathryn Bevis Prize as part of Winchester Poetry Prize 2026.
Winchester Poetry Prize 2026 is open globally, and the Kathryn Bevis Prize sits within the competition to honour the strongest poem entered by a writer in Hampshire.
This special prize is named after the deeply missed poet, teacher and Winchester resident – Kathryn Bevis – who contributed to Winchester Poetry Festival in many ways, including throughout her role as Hampshire Poet 2020-2022 (in partnership with Hampshire Cultural Trust)
The Kathryn Bevis Prize is sponsored by The Writing School Online, which Kathryn founded, and is supported by Oliver Golding. It is designed to offer a year of development opportunities and coaching to help the winner to develop their poetic career, just as Kathryn herself supported so many new writers to develop their own talent.
Winchester Poetry Prize 2025 received 2284 entries, from 34 countries including Serbia, Singapore, Sweden and the States. 338 of these were from Hampshire and were entered into the Kathryn Bevis Prize category. The Kathryn Bevis Prize 2025 was won by Christina Moran with the poem ‘Underwonderland’.
Christina Moran(pictured top) says: “It was thrilling to be awarded the 2025 Kathryn Bevis Prize. The award certainly boosted my confidence and motivation. It has also helped my development, not least with an amazing course with The Writing School Online. I’m grateful this very special and generous prize took me under its kindly wing.”
Winchester Poetry Prize first prize is £1000, second prize is £500 and third prize is £250. The Kathryn Bevis Prize winner will receive a year-long package of writing tuition, reading opportunities, alongside £150. All longlisted poets are invited to read their poems at an exciting prize-giving ceremony at Winchester Poetry Day on Saturday 10th October. All longlisted poems will be published in a printed anthology available on the day.
The competition is judged by acclaimed poet, and previous Winchester resident, Julia Copus and remains open until 31st July. All entrants from Hampshire are automatically eligible for the Kathryn Bevis Prize.
Further details, including guidelines and how to enter can be found here: winchesterpoetryfestival.org/prize
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