Following many comments about the breath of fresh air the Love In brought to Friendly Street, we are introducing 3 awards for your enjoyment and participation:
The Damp Hankie Award
for the soppiest love poem at the 1 May 2026 City Meeting;
The Avoid Them Like The…. Award
for the most awful cliché(s) at the 7 August 2026 City Meeting;
The It’s A What ? Award
for the worst metaphor/simile at the 2 October 2026 City Meeting.
How it works:
This competition is entwined with the normal Friendly Street meetings. Your poem must be no more than 30 lines long and be read within a normal 3-minute slot. (If appropriate, you may fill out the time with other poems.)
On the night, submit 1 printed copy of your poem in a folder marked ‘Waffle’, with your name, contact details and the relevant word ‘Soppiest’, or ‘Cliche’ or ‘Metaphor’, on the back. This copy will be judged by an anonymous judge with the winning poem being announced at a later meeting.
You may announce your poem as part of the competition, risking light hearted banter, or say nothing. You may even get quite thespian and dress for it.
The winning poems will be published, suitably identified, in the 2026 FSP Anthology, bypassing the normal selection process. They will also be eligible for any other prizes such as the Satura Prize
No early or late entries will be considered.
There is no cost other than the normal reading fee of $5.