Tower Poetry was founded in 2000 when a generous gift was made to Christ Church by the late Christopher Tower to promote the enjoyment and critical appreciation of poetry, particularly among young people in education, and to challenge people to write their own poetry. 

The 2026 competition is now open for entries on the theme of 'A Riddle'.

   Enter the Competition

 

What we do

Tower Poetry is best known for its annual poetry writing competition which offers the UK’s most valuable prize for young poets. The competition is free to enter and is open to students between 16 and 18 years of age who are educated in the UK. 

Tower Poetry also runs a biennial residential poetry Summer School for 18- to 23-year-olds. The cost of all tuition and accommodation is covered by Tower Poetry. The next Tower Poetry Summer School will run in August 2027. Find out more about the Tower Poetry Summer School here.

All of the Tower Poetry publications are available here.

Who we are

A portrait photograph of Dr Anna Nickerson

 

The current director of Tower Poetry is Dr Anna Nickerson. She is the Christopher Tower Student and Tutor in Poetry in the English Language at Christ Church and an Associate Professor in the English Faculty at the University of Oxford. 
Photo of Maya Little, a woman with shoulder length hair and a patterned shirt.

The Tower Poetry Administrator is Maya Little. She manages the day-to-day running of the Tower Poetry Competition, Tower Poetry Summer School, and Tower Poetry Grants Schemes.

Tel: +44 7849625906 

Email: tower.poetry@chch.ox.ac.uk 

About Christopher Tower

Christopher Thomas Tower (1915-1998) read English and History at Christ Church (1934-1937). During his schooling he won a number of prizes for poetry and English literature, as well as taking a keen interest in archaeology. These passions took him to the Middle East where he became a scholar of Arabic and Persian literature, a diplomat, a soldier, a collector, and a traveller. He later settled in Athens to devote more time to his writing, publishing nine illustrated books of poetry – mainly of Persian and Arab legends. 

Christopher Tower left a legacy of £5m, to be used by Christ Church to promote the enjoyment and understanding of poetry in the English language. The legacy funds two teaching posts (the Christopher Tower Poetry Studentship and a Tutorial Fellowship), and a Junior Research Fellowship in Greek mythology, as well as all the Tower Poetry activities – the Tower Poetry Competition, the Tower Poetry Summer School, and the Tower Poetry Grants Scheme. 

A fuller biography of Christopher Tower can be found here.

Painting of Christopher Tower