Call for entries: The Matthew Lanyon Poetry Prize

Theme: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TOMORROW

The Matthew Lanyon Archive is delighted to announce a new national poetry prize, celebrating the life and creative legacy of Matthew Lanyon (1951-2016). The prize is free to enter, and will open for submissions from UK residents only on 30th March 2026.

Born in St Ives in 1951, Matthew Lanyon is remembered as one of Cornwall’s most significant painters, but he was also a talented multimedia artist and writer. His literary and artistic output spanned a range of subjects, including: Cornish history and geology, popular culture, mythology, environmental catastrophe, art tourism, mapping, love and desire, capitalism, comedy and the concept of time.

For the inaugural Matthew Lanyon Poetry Prize, entrants are invited to submit poems that interpret or respond to Matthew’s work and interests in new and intriguing ways. The winner and shortlisted poets will be announced during The Archaeology of Tomorrow: Ten Years into the Afterlife, Festival of Matthew Lanyon taking place at Falmouth University on 3rd and 4th July 2026.

The theme for this year’s competition is ‘The Archaeology of Tomorrow’. Poets are encouraged to interpret the theme widely. A prize of £500 will be awarded to the overall winner. The winner and 5 highly commended poets will have their poems published on the Matthew Lanyon website and print copies will be kept in the Archive. The winner of the best poem from a writer living in or from Cornwall will have the opportunity to be published in the Guillemot Press online journal and £200. Prizes will be awarded on Saturday July 4th at Falmouth University during the Festival when winners and up to five runners up will be invited to read their poems.

The Matthew Lanyon Poetry Prize is part of a wider poetry programme at the Festival, which will include a creative writing workshop, a curated display of Matthew’s poetry, plurals and book art and spoken word as part of dance and music performances.

The judges for the 2026 prize are Luke Thompson, Judith Lanyon and Zelda Cahill-Patten.

Conditions of Entry 2026

1. The competition opens on 30th March 2026, and closes at midnight UK time on 25th May 2026.

2. The competition is open to all UK residents, (excluding close relatives of Matthew Lanyon and the judges), age 16 and over as at 30th March 2026

3. This is a free to enter competition. Entrants may submit up to two poems, in the English language, in a single Word document or pdf file.

4. Submissions should be sent to matthewlanyon.prize@gmail.com with the subject heading ‘Matthew Lanyon Poetry Prize’. Include your full name and a short biographical note in the body of the email.

5. The prize will be judged anonymously. Please do NOT include your name or identifying note on the submission itself.

6. Poems must be unpublished, and may not have been commended in another prize.

7. Poems must be no longer than 30 lines and AI generated work is not acceptable.

8. Copyright will remain with winning authors but the Matthew Lanyon Archive will have the right in perpetuity to publish winning poems.

9. If you are a poet living in or from Cornwall please state this in the body of your email.

We look forward to reading your poems!

If you have any questions, contact matthewlanyon.prize@gmail.com