Hippocrates Prize

The Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine is an annual international award for an unpublished poem on a medical subject. Poems must be no more than 50 lines in length and not have previously been published in any form. They must be by a living poet, written in English and should not be translations of another writer’s work. There is no limit to the number of entries.

THE ENTRIES FOR THE 2024 HIPPOCRATES PRIZE ARE NOW CLOSED. WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT THE 11TH ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM OF THE HIPPOCRATES INITIATIVE FOR POETRY AND MEDICINE IN OVIDEO, SPAIN ON 23 AND 24 MAY 2024.

Poems should be entered online and must be accompanied by payment of £6 for each poem entered, by secure online payment.

Poems are in 3 categories: 

1 - Open Prize: open to any entrant

2 - Health Professionals Prize: open to health professionals and health students from all disciplines.

3 - Young Poets Prize: for entrants under the age of 18.

The prize money for the Open and Health Professional Categories is:

1st: £1000

2nd: £500

3rd: £250

For the Young Poets category, the first place poem will receive £250.

Entries must be received by 14 February at midnight in the timezone of the applicant. 

The Hippocrates Prize judges will read a long-list prepared by filter judges, and their decision is final. Short-listed poets in all categories of the Hippocrates Prize will be informed by mid-April.

Results will be announced at the Hippocrates Awards during an International Symposium on Poetry and Medicine in Oviedo, Spain on 23rd and 24th of May 2024. Winning poems will be published on the Hippocrates Prize website and in an anthology of winning poems. Prize winners will receive their prizes in June 2024.

Copyright remains with the authors, but the Hippocrates Prize organizers reserve the right of publication, both online and in a prizewinners’ and other anthologies and publications of the Hippocrates Initiative.