Poetry and Spoken Word Competition 2026 - Utrecht: Your Place, Your Words

Every place tells a story. With "Utrecht: Your Place, Your Words", we invite you to think of a place in the province of Utrecht that holds a special meaning for you and write about it in a poem. Is it the square where you meet up with your friends, a traffic light you cycle past every day, or the bakery of your childhood that no longer exists? What does that place represent for you? Submit your written or spoken poem for the chance to win €100.

Create a poem or spoken word piece about a place - anywhere in the province of Utrecht - where you feel, would like to feel, or do not feel at home. Describe this environment as it is now, or as you imagine it to be in the past or future. Poems can explore how places connect us. Or how they drive us apart. How places develop, demarcate or change. Together, all these poems will form a map of our society, showing who we are and what Utrecht is as a city and a province.

Everyone can participate, so don't hesitate and take part! Submissions are welcome from 15 January 2025. The deadline is midnight CEST (UTC+2) on 27 of May 2026.

Please read for more information about conditions and submission, the news item Utrecht: your place, your words.