Poetry Competition

Poet, musician and broadcaster Jon Bickley is the co-founder of the Chesham Literary Festival. He has lived in Chesham for over ten years and has been reading, writing and studying poetry for much longer. 

Jon co-hosts regular podcasts, including those of the Chesham Literary Festival and the Invisible Folk Club. He has a passion for historical material rooted in a local context. 

His books, including Solstice, The Rope and Autumn, can be found on Amazon, and his music on Spotify.

Ben is a prizewinning writer, poet and playwright. He has published several poetry books, and has enjoyed a long career as an English teacher, inspiring others through literature.

He has won the Buckinghamshire Arts Open Short Story Competition, and twice won the Kewny Cup for Dialect Verse at the Gorsedh Kernow.

Ben is a co-founder of the Chesham Literary Festival and founder of the local poetry group Chess Poets. He is also a member of Metroland Poets, a Stanza of the Poetry Society.

Born in Penzance, he now lives in Chesham, and is currently writing a novel. 

Karen won Judge's Choice at the Chesham Literary Festival 2023, and was highly commended at the festival in 2024. Her poems have appeared in The Lake, Ink Sweat and Tears, and London Grip, among other publications.

Her debut poetry collection, Blue Breath, was published in 2025.

Leeanne is a poet and train driver living in Chesham. She was highly commended in the Chesham Literary Festival 2023 and went one better in 2024, winning first place in the HP5 category.

She has been published in Poetry 365 and the Black in White Community Collection.