Poet and publisher Kate Newmann will judge the entries to the 2025 Allingham Festival Poetry Competition. The winner of the Competition will also be declared the winner of the annual Francis Harvey Award.
Kate Newmann has published five collections of poetry with a sixth, titled ‘Cockett’, to be published in 2025. Her most recent collection, Ask Me Next Saturday, was featured by the Irish Independent, and she is a current recipient of the Katherine and Patrick Kavanagh Trust Fellowship. In May 2025 she read at the Strokestown International Poetry Festival. She has been Poet Laureate for Ballycastle, County Antrim and is Co-Director of Summer Palace Press.
The Francis Harvey Poetry Award was created in memory of Francis Harvey, the Donegal banker-poet whose writings have been compared to those of Norman MacCaig, RS Thomas, and the Japanese haiku master Bashō. His poem “Heron” was a prizewinner in the World Wildlife Fund Poetry Competition.
The 2025 Allingham Poetry Competition is open for entries, with a deadline of 28 September. In addition to the Francis Harvey Poetry Award, the winning poet will win a €300 prize. First-, Second- and Third-Place winners will read their work at the Awards Ceremony on Saturday, 8 November, along with the winners of the Allingham Flash Fiction Competition. Full details and entry forms for the competitions are posted on-line at
https://www.allinghamfestival.com/fiction-poetry-competitions.
The 2025 Allingham Festival will take place in Ballyshannon, Co Donegal from 5-9 November. Headline events will include a keynote speech by human rights activist Nelofer Pazira, an interview with Orwell Prize winning author Donal Ryan, and a performance of The Life and Times of Paddy Armstrong starring Don Wycherley. Festival information is posted on-line at
www.allinghamfestival.com.