The King of Pontrhydyfen Poetry Competition

As part of the Richard Burton Centenary celebrations, we invite poets of all backgrounds to take part in ‘The King of Pontrhydyfen’, a free-to-enter poetry competition paying tribute to the legendary Welsh actor and his roots.

This is an exciting opportunity to capture the spirit of Burton including his commanding voice, his poetic soul, and his deep connection to the Afan Valley and Port Talbot through the power of verse.

Finalists will be invited to present their work at a special event on the 8^th July 2025 at Blanco’s Hotel and Restaurant, Port Talbot where the winner will be crowned in a fitting tribute to one of Wales’ greatest icons.

Will your words rise to the occasion? Enter now and let your poetry take centre stage!

Categories

There will be three adult age categories: 18-20 years, 20-35, age 35 and over.

Rules

• All work must be yours and original. The use of AI apps is prohibited
• Competition entries closing date is Thursday 1st of May 2025
• All entries must have a tenable link to Richard Burton
• All entries should be written in Calibri (body) font size 12
• All entries should be written in a word document to the left-hand margin
• All entries will be judged by a panel of judges and the best 5 of each age group chosen
• The finalists will be required to present their work at ‘The King of Pontrydyfen’ poetry final event
• The winner of each category will be chosen on their presentation of their poetry entry, during the poetry final event
• You must meet the age categories at the time of judging
• There will be a prize of £200 for the overall winner of each category
• Entries to be sent to Poetryamanda@mail.com

This event is supported by RB100, Neath Poetry and Spoken Word. Cheval / The Terry Hetherington Young Writers Charitable Trust registered with the CVS and Blanco’s Hotel and Restaurant, Port Talbot.