CALL FOR SUBS: Bridgette James Poetry Competition 2025
The second annual Bridgette James Poetry Competition is now open for submissions, inviting poets from underrepresented communities to explore the theme “Nature and You.”
Founded by Bridgette James, the competition seeks original, unpublished poems up to 40 lines that reflect on the relationship between humans and the natural world. Submissions are accepted from April 8 to May 8, 2025.
The competition offers a first prize of $40 USD and a runner-up prize of $10 USD. The top three contestants will have their poems published in the annual hardcover edition of Penned in Rage Journal. To be eligible, contestants must subscribe to the website; subscription is free.
The judging panel for this year’s competition includes prolific poet Pamilerin Jacob, who will evaluate the top ten anonymous entries selected by the preliminary judges. Pamilerin Jacob’s poems have appeared in POETRY, Lolwe, 20.35 Africa, Agbowó, Frontier Poetry, The Rumpus, & elsewhere. He is the Founding Editor of Poetry Column-NND, Poetry Sango-Ota, among others.
For detailed submission guidelines, visit the official competition page.
About Bridgette James
Bridgette James is a British writer born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, whose work spans poetry and short fiction. With a background in English Literature, Social Policy, and Criminology, she brings a rich and varied perspective to her writing. A former Police Constable in the UK, her lived experiences often inform the emotional depth and complexity of her work.
Bridgette’s poetry and prose have appeared in numerous literary journals across the UK and beyond. Her flash fiction Hack Off a Limb was recently featured in Ginosko Literary Journal (2025), and her poetry has appeared in Allegro, CERASUS Poetry Magazine, The Lake, London Grip, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Wildfire Words, Dreich, and The Fib Review, among others. In 2024, she won the Fiction Factory Summer Poetry Competition and was shortlisted for both the Renard Press Poetry Prize and the prestigious Bridport Poetry Prize. She was also longlisted for the Aurora National Writing Prize in 2022.
Her short stories have been published in Bristol Noir and Misjudged and Misperceived by Zambia Arts Publication. Bridgette is also a co-author of the self-published anthology What the Seashell Said to Me (2022), which is now archived in the National Poetry Library, Southbank Centre.
Bridgette’s earlier work appears in the notable anthologies Lice in the Lion’s Mane (1995), Songs That Pour the Heart (2004), and Kalashnikov in the Sun (2009), edited by Kirsten Rian. Her writing continues to explore themes of identity, displacement, justice, and emotional resonance—anchored in both personal insight and cultural legacy.
