The full terms and conditions follow below, but for now, here are a few tips.

First, as the winner will be published in late January, be aware that sending in a Yule-themed poem will not necessarily help your chances. A good poem, like a dog, is for life – not just for Christmas.

Next, feel free to take the theme and run with it. You could write about pets or pests, beasts caged in zoos or roaming wild, animals you’ve known personally or those you’ve never seen, creatures from ancient myth or weird new chimaeras that you’ve only just invented. The Beast in the Space, in WS Graham’s great poem of that name, is an indescribable creature that lives on “the other side of the words”, in that no-man’s-land between the writer’s mind and the reader’s.

Don’t feel obliged to choose an animal that seems inherently “poetic”. The nightingale has already enjoyed the attention of Coleridge, Keats and John Clare, but you could be the poet to write the first truly great ode to whelks. Alternatively, you could reintroduce us to that most peculiar of critters, Shakespeare’s “poor, bare, forked animal”: homo sapiens.

Poems in any style or form are welcome. Why not try borrowing the form of a classic animal poem? Christopher Smart’s 18th-century consideration of his cat Jeoffry has inspired a number of wonderful imitations. Or perhaps you’ll invent a form that imitates the shape of the creature itself, as Edwin Morgan did with his witty one-liner Siesta of a Hungarian Snake (“s sz sz SZ sz SZ sz ZS zs Zs zs zs z”).

And read widely for inspiration. If you’ve dropped out of touch with recent poetry, preparing for this competition is a perfect excuse to discover some. The insect poems of Fiona Benson’s beautiful chapbook Bioluminescent Baby, reprinted this year in her Forward Prize-shortlisted collection Ephemeron, would be a fine place to start.

1. This competition is open to residents of the UK, Channel Islands, Isle of Man or Republic of Ireland aged 18 years over. Employees of Telegraph Media Group Limited and its group companies (“Promoter”), their agents or anyone else professionally associated with the competition are not eligible to enter. 

2. All information detailing how to enter this competition forms part of these terms and conditions. It is a condition of entry that all rules are accepted as final and that the competitor agrees to abide by these rules. Submission of an entry will be taken to mean acceptance of these terms and conditions.

3. To enter this competition, entrants must submit a poem on the theme of animals. The poem must be in English and no more than 40 lines in length. 

There are two entry routes to this competition:

Entrants can email their details and poem (PDF or Word document only) to [email protected] 

OR:

Entrants can post their entry to: Poetry Desk, Telegraph Media Group, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT. The entrant must enclose their name and telephone number.

Entry is restricted to one per person. Once submitted, the Promoter cannot accept any amends to any part of an entry. 

4. All entries must be received by 23:59 on Friday, December 16, 2022.

5. All entries submitted must be the work of the individual submitting them and must not have been published elsewhere or have won a prize in any other competition. It is the responsibility of each entrant to ensure that their entry does not infringe the copyright of any third party or any laws.

6. Copyright in all entries submitted for this competition remains with the respective entrants. However, each entrant grants a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual licence to Telegraph Media Group Limited to feature any or all of the submitted entries in any of their publications, their websites and/or in any promotional material connected to this competition.  Entrants will not receive remittance for such publication, though their work will be credited.

7. Late, illegible, incomplete, defaced or corrupt entries will not be accepted. No responsibility can be accepted for lost entries and proof of transmission or posting will not be accepted as proof of receipt. Entries must not be sent through agencies or third parties. 

8. The winning and runners-up entries shall be judged on the following criteria:

ImaginationOriginalityFlairSkill

9. The panel of judges will comprise:

Tristram Fane Saunders – Commissioning Editor in Telegraph CultureVictoria Kennefick – Poet

The decision of the judges is final and no correspondence will be entered into. No feedback can be provided for submitted poems, and unsuccessful entries will not receive a response. 

10. Prizes: The winning entrant’s poem will feature in the Daily Telegraph on Friday, January 27, 2023 and the poem will be performed in a filmed recording by a special guest reader. 

Four runners-up will each have their names and their poem published on The Telegraph’s poetry channel on Friday January 27, 2023.

11. The winner and runners-up shall be notified by email or telephone by January 25, 2023. Should the Promoter be unable to contact the winners or should the winners be unable to accept the prize, the Promoter reserves the right to award the prize to another entrant who, in the opinion of the judges and in accordance with these terms and conditions, is the next best entry.

12. The winner and runners-up may be required to take part in publicity on behalf of the Promoter.

13. Entrants’ data will be used for the purpose of administration of this competition and in accordance with the permissions granted or withheld at the point of entry.

14. The names and poems of the winner and runners-up will be published on Friday, January 27, 2023. 

15. The prizes as described are available on the date of publication. Should the Promoter be unable to publish the winner’s poem on the date specified, the poem will be published on an alternative date.

16. Events may occur that render the competition itself or the awarding of the prizes impossible due to reasons beyond the control of the Promoter and accordingly the Promoter may at its absolute discretion vary or amend the promotion and the entrant agrees that no liability shall attach to the Promoter as a result thereof.

17. These Terms and Conditions are to be interpreted in accordance with English law and any dispute arising out of these Terms or their subject matter is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

Promoter: Telegraph Media Group Limited, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0DT.