If you're here, you've likely visited the Poets' Corner at John Dickie Street, have scanned a QR code, and now you want to Post a Poem. 

Please fill in your details using this form. We are really looking forward to reading what you have come up with. 

The themes you are invited to respond to are: 

July, Sponsored by the New Laigh Kirk 

• Theme: Faith 

August, Sponsored by Baking with Attitude

• Theme: Scottish Food and Drink

September, Sponsored by Ayrshire Film Company

• Theme: New Beginnings

October, RED Hair Salon

• Theme: Community Spirit

November

• Watch this space for the November theme 

December

• Watch this space for the December theme

Post a Poem Guidelines

1. Eligibility

• Everyone is welcome to post a poem. 
• The competition is open to  all residents of East Ayrshire. 
• Organisers, judges, and their immediate families cannot enter.
  

2. Entry Requirements

Poems must be:

• The entrant’s original work
•  No Artificial Intelligence or language learning models can be used for creation of the poems
• Previously Unpublished
• A maximum of 40 lines, a maximum of 1000 word count

Please note:

• You can respond to any theme but please note that each month has a specified theme.  
• You can submit your entry at any point. 
• Any entries of an extremely violent, overly sexual, or using hate speech against another’s creed, race, ethnicity, or being, will not be accepted. 
• Any entries promoting terrorism, hatred, or violence, against an individual, or their creed, race, religion, or being, will not be accepted and may be referred to the appropriate enforcement authorities.

3. Submission Guidelines

• You can submit entries in three ways:
  •  using the QR code at the Poets' Corner
  • Email to info@ayrshire360.com
  • in person at Wallace Chambers, John Dickie St, Kilmarnock KA1 1HW 

• You may only submit one poem per theme
• Please check the monthly submission deadlines below
• Deadline: Monthly winners will automatically be considered for annual overall winner which will be announced in January 2027 on the anniversary of Burns' birth.  

4. Judging Criteria

Entries will be judged anonymously based on:

• Originality and creativity
• Use of Scots language and imagery
• Structure, rhythm, and flow
• Emotional impact and meaning
• The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Judging Panel: The panel will be made up of representatives from EAC, Robert Burns World Federation, Elected Members and Ayrshire 360. 

5.  Prizes

• 6 x Monthly Prizes: £50 and inclusion in publication
• Annual overall winner Prize: £200 and publication and trophy. This is sponsored by Hugh Mulgrew's Corespace. 
• Additional awards- Best Poem posted by a visitor. 

6. Copyright and publication

• Entrants must guarantee that their submission is their original work.
• Entrants retain copyright of their work.By entering, authors grant the organiser permission to:publish or display winning poems (with credit) 

7. Timings

Judging and Announcement Schedule

Annual Competition Finale

GDPR

The information you provide will only be shared with judging panel and retained for a maximum of 12 months , after which we will delete it.  

We may contact you using the details you provide to seek your permission to feature in a "Post a Poem" annual which we hope to publish at the end of July 2027  and to let you know about upcoming poetry related poetry events/competitions and prizes. 

Winning poems will be published on the main page of this website