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Enter the Ashdown Forest poetry competition 2026

Entries are now open for the third annual Ashdown Forest poetry competition, in partnership with the Royal Literary Fund.

This year, the theme is ‘Friendship’ – inspired by AA Milne‘s Winnie-the-Pooh stories, and in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Milne’s beloved character.

Ashdown Forest was the setting for many of Milne’s classic Winnie-the-Pooh stories and is home to the original Hundred Acre Wood as well as Pooh Sticks Bridge. Milne was also one of a number of writers to have donated a portion of his Estate to the Royal Literary Fund, meaning that his words have helped us support thousands of writers across the UK and Ireland in the years since his bequest.

This year’s judges are (pictured above, from left to right): author, educator and Ashdown Forest Foundation Trustee, Kathryn Aalto; multi-award-winning children’s author, poet and former Children’s Laureate, Joseph Coelho OBE; broadcaster Gyles Brandreth, life-long Winnie-the-Pooh fan and author of Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear: The Remarkable Life of AA Milne and the Legacy of Winnie the Pooh; Jane Riordan, author of the authorised Winnie-the-Pooh stories inspired by Milne’s classics; and Fiona Sampson, leading poet, literary biographer and RLF Trustee.

The competition is open to children and adults, with writers invited to submit their entries under one of the following categories:

• Primary (6 -11 years)
• Secondary (11-17 years)
• Adult (18+)

Entries close on Friday 8 May 2026. The competition is free to enter, and all the details can be found at  Ashdown Forest Poetry Competition.

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