ENTERTAINMENT NEWS - The 2026 AVBOB Poetry Competition closes at 23:59 on 30 November 2025.
Fabulous prizes await the winners, whose names will be announced at a gala event towards the end of next year. The judges will select some of the strongest poems for inclusion in a glossy coffee-table book, which will also contain their English translations.
Poets are invited to submit up to 10 poems in any of South Africa’s 11 official written languages on the theme of I Wish I’d Said…
Now in its ninth year, the AVBOB Poetry Competition has become a household name. Apart from sponsoring the competition, the AVBOB Poetry Project hosts a website where thousands of poems submitted over the years are available in an online library. This has resulted in a substantial online archive, a platform where aspiring and established poets alike can improve their craft and connect with an audience. In the process, the AVBOB Poetry Project fosters a constantly evolving conversation between South African poets from all walks of life.
We are currently living through times of global crisis and uncertainty. It is often at such times that people turn to poetry. For centuries, poetry has managed to confront and express emotions at the limits of what can be said, expanding our minds and educating our emotions as we search for healing and connection with others. Whether your poems respond to events on the world stage or to love or loss close to you, this is the moment to put metaphorical pen to paper.
If you have not yet entered the competition and joined this poetic conversation, now is the time to find your best, most heartfelt words and submit them.
Always remember that entering your work is only one step in a much longer journey. Attractive as the prizes are, the ultimate prize of the competition is poetry itself. It is an activity that can sustain you and challenge you to pay attention to the world around you every day.
So find your best words and enter the competition by submitting your poems. You may be astonished by what you can contribute to the ongoing conversation.
The AVBOB Poetry Competition is open for submissions until 30 November 2025. Visit www.avbobpoetry.co.za today and find out how to enter.
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