Poetry of Science

Science in Verse: IF Oxford youth poetry competition 2026

the competition is now closed for judging the entries

The Poetry of Science competition returns to create its 10th anthology of new work from young writers!

As part of IF Oxford, the annual science and ideas Festival from Oxford, we inviteed young poets to explore the wonders of science through verse. Whether inspired by biology, physics, chemistry, or any other scientific field, hundreds of creative new works have flowed to the panel of judges over a decade of creativity. You can create your own poem. Or maybe you can encourage someone else to write a poem, it’s simple and free.

How to Participate:

Age Categories:
- Under 7 years old
- 8–11 years old
- 12–16 years old
Submission Details:
- Write a short poem on any scientific topic, using any poetry style.
- Submit your poem by 1 May 2026 – sorry, the competition is no longer accepting entries — please come back later when it’s open in 2027..

Important Dates:

Competition launch: February (follow @oxford_if on Instagram)
Submission Deadline: Friday, 1 May 2026
Poems performed, and prizes, anthologies and certificates presented to winners: October 2026 (in 2025 this was 11.30am, Sat 18 October)

Prizes and Recognition:

Wining poems will be selected by our jury in each age category (this is the hardest part for us!), with exciting prizes for each age category up for grabs. All winning entries and runners-up will be published in the anthology and on our website, and selected poems will be performed at a special IF Oxford celebratory event during the Festival in October 2026.

Prizes

Brilliant science kits from John Adams
New poetry books from leading publishers
A one year subscription to The Week Junior magazine (and if you want to get inspiration now, you can use the special offer to get ten weeks for £10)

Plus

Certificates of achievement for the winning poems
Selected poems will appear in the 10th IF Oxford Poetry Anthology, celebrating young writers across Key Stages 1–4, for you to build your poetry collection.

Get Inspired:

In 2025, we received hundreds of entries from across the UK, ranging from limericks and rap to haiku and acrostic poems. You can read the winning entries and runners-up from previous years, since 2017 (see below) to spark your own creativity — you could be a published poet in the next Poetry of Science Anthology.

Let your imagination soar and explore the science all around us 👀

We look forward to reading your wonderful poems!