The Finding Persephone Poetry Contest closes April 14
The Finding Persephone Poetry Contest
What’s it about?
The goal of the Finding Persephone initiative is to uplift both femininity, and the arts. This contest aims to do both.
The Finding Persephone Poetry Contest is looking for poetry that explores what femininity means to you.
All gender identities are welcome to submit.
Submission Guidelines
Submissions close 14th April
- Email your submission to info@findingpersephone.org
- Please use “Poetry Contest 2026” as the subject line of your email.
- Submit one previously unpublished poem of any length in a single Microsoft Word (.docx) document.
- Please title the document with your full name.
- In the body of your email, include a third-person bio of around 50 words.
————— - Poems can be any form, style, or length.
- We do not allow simultaneous submissions.
- We will accept poems that have previously been featured on your personal social media.
- We only accept submissions from those residing within or otherwise significantly connected to Aotearoa.
- We will not accept poetry that was in any way created or informed by generative A.I.
—————
Accepted poems may be published by The Persephone Foundation both digitally and in print, though ownership of the work will always remain with the poet.
Prizes & Events
First Place
The winning submission will win $2,500 NZD - this will be deposited directly into their nominated account within 30 days of receipt and acknowledgement by the author.
Second Place
$1,000 NZD - same as above.
Third Place
$500 NZD - same as above.
Honourable Mentions
The Persephone Foundation has been granted an undisclosed (but generous) amount to award $100 prizes to submitting poets. Honourable mentions will also receive a lovely official Finding Persephone certificate of achievement for the year's poetry competition. Add it to your CV!
Wrap Events
Two seriously fun but slightly swanky events, one in Tāmaki and one in Pōneke, will be held to celebrate submissions and the creative process. These events will take place in August.
Winning poets will be invited to read at either or both events.
Meet The Judges
Hera Lindsay Bird
Hera Lindsay Bird
Hera Lindsay Bird
Hera Bird is a writer and school librarian from Dunedin. She has two books of poetry, a self-titled collection 'Hera Lindsay Bird' published in 2016 with Te Herenga Waka University Press, Penguin UK & Deep Vellum Press US (US title 'Juvenilia') and 'Pamper Me To Hell & Back' published with The Poetry Business in 2018. She was the 2011 Ada
Hera Bird is a writer and school librarian from Dunedin. She has two books of poetry, a self-titled collection 'Hera Lindsay Bird' published in 2016 with Te Herenga Waka University Press, Penguin UK & Deep Vellum Press US (US title 'Juvenilia') and 'Pamper Me To Hell & Back' published with The Poetry Business in 2018. She was the 2011 Adam Prize Winner, and the 2019 editor of Best NZ Poems. She writes an advice column for The Spinoff & is working on a fantasy novel for children.
Tayi Tibble
Hera Lindsay Bird
Hera Lindsay Bird
Tayi Tibble is an internationally published, award-winning poet and writer from Te Whanganui a Tara, Aotearoa. She descends from the tribes Te Whanau a Apanui and Ngati Porou. She is the author of two poetry collections Poukahangatus and Rangikura published by Te Herenga Waka University Press (NZ), Knopf (US) and Penguin (UK). Her work ha
Tayi Tibble is an internationally published, award-winning poet and writer from Te Whanganui a Tara, Aotearoa. She descends from the tribes Te Whanau a Apanui and Ngati Porou. She is the author of two poetry collections Poukahangatus and Rangikura published by Te Herenga Waka University Press (NZ), Knopf (US) and Penguin (UK). Her work has won various awards including an Ockham for best first book, a Voyager Media Award, the Adam Foundation Prize and The Poetry Foundation’s Bess Hosking Prize. She was the first Maori writer to be published in The New Yorker. Her work has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, Poetry Magazine, Granta, Alta, Dazed, Interview, The Atlantic and The Nation. In 2025, she was a resident of the International Writing Programme at The University of Iowa.
Cadence Chung
Hera Lindsay Bird
Cadence Chung
Cadence Chung is a poet, mezzo-soprano, and composer, currently one of the resident artists at Te Pae Kōkako - The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio. She has released three books: anomalia (Tender Press, 2022), Mythos: an Audio-Visual Anthology of Art by Young New Zealanders, (ed.) (Wai-te-Ata Press, 2024), and Mad Diva (Otago University
Cadence Chung is a poet, mezzo-soprano, and composer, currently one of the resident artists at Te Pae Kōkako - The Aotearoa New Zealand Opera Studio. She has released three books: anomalia (Tender Press, 2022), Mythos: an Audio-Visual Anthology of Art by Young New Zealanders, (ed.) (Wai-te-Ata Press, 2024), and Mad Diva (Otago University Press, 2025). She also edits Symposia Magazine and the New Zealand Poetry Society's quarterly magazine, a fine line.