The Isle of Man Poetry Society, in conjunction with Manx Litfest, has published a collection of works from the 2012 and 2013 Douglas Poetry Trails. Featuring a distinctive cover design and layout by Tony Garland, the book is available to buy at ?5 per copy.

Ruth Baxendale, Chair of the Isle of Man Poetry Society, said, ‘The first half of the book is made up of 19 poems from the 2012 trail, plus T.E. Brown’s ‘Poets and Poets’, chosen as a salute to the Island’s literary heritage. The second half comprises the winning poems from last year’s Poetry Trail competition, which attracted a large number of entries, making it a difficult job for the judges to select just 20.’

Poets in the Island and beyond still have time to enter the 2014 competition, as the deadline has been extended to Friday 20 June. This year’s trail will see the 20 winning poems printed on posters and displayed at venues around Douglas town centre in the lead up to and during Manx Litfest 2014. The 20 poems will also be published in an accompanying booklet, of which each successful entrant will receive a copy.

To buy a copy of the 2012/2013 Poetry Trail book, please send a cheque – made payable to Isle of Man Poetry Society – to the Society Office, 8 Manor Drive, Farmhill, Douglas IM2 2PA.

To submit for this year’s Poetry Trail, poets need to send their work in to the Society Office with an entry form, together with ?3.50 per poem, by Friday 20 June. The entry form can be downloaded at Isle of Man Poetry Society’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/isleofmanpoetrysociety, or you can pick up a copy at the Henry Bloom Noble Library in Douglas.