Introducing the Derby Poetry Festival 2025 Poetry Prize Judge
- derbypoetryfest
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
We recently announced that the 2025 Derby Poetry Festival Poetry Prize is open for submissions. Entering its third year the prize is a national poetry competition run by Derby Poetry Festival seeking newly written, high-quality poems and writing. Founded in 2017 and often referred to as DPF, Derby Poetry Festival has provided a platform for writers and poets in Derby and the surrounding areas to share and experience work. We have prioritised developing new writers and bringing nationally and internationally significant talent to the city.
We thought it was about time to properly introduce you to this year’s judge, Jake Wild-Hall.
“Jake Wild Hall is an award-winning poet and one-half of Bad Betty Press. He has performed on BBC Radio and at festivals and literary events across the UK. He is a multiple slam champion, and his work has been published in magazines, anthologies and online journals. He is the Author of two pamphlets Solomon’s World which was longlisted for the Saboteur award for best pamphlet and Blank.
He has worked with partners including Penguin, Apple’s and Snakes, Writing East Midlands, Derby Poetry Festival and Pearsons. He has also been a guest tutor for Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham University, King’s College London, Lincoln University and others.
His debut collection Alanis Morissette is due out in 2026 with Broken Sleep Books.”
Jake and Bad Betty have been long-running partners of DPF and has supported the entire team over the past few years; he’s been integral to Derby Poetry Festival’s development.
With the launch of his long-awaited debut collection, Alanis Morissette, Broken Sleep Books, and years of hard work behind the scenes of Bad Betty with Amy Acre, we thought now was the perfect time for him to judge the Poetry Prize.
When we asked Jake what he was looking for in your poems, he said this: “I can’t wait to read your poems. I think the most important thing about a poem is that it is authentically you. We find honesty and beauty in all things, and whatever makes you write is the thing I am looking for. Dig deep into what it means to make you human and leave it for me to read”.
The Derby Poetry Festival 2025 Poetry Prize is open until Sunday 11th January 2026, entry is £6 for first poems and £4 for subsequent submissions.
You can pre-order Alanis Morrisette by Jake Wild Hall from Broken Sleep Books here, released January 31st 2026.
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