London, UK - Filipino poet Ryan Caidic has been named the winner of the inaugural International Poetry Prize at the debut Bermondsey Literary Festival, a new celebration of literary excellence in the London Borough of Southwark. The award was announced during a closing ceremony and public reading held at Canada Water Library, one of the borough’s leading cultural venues.
Caidic’s poem, “Rules for Leaving,” was selected from hundreds of submissions received from writers around the world. The poem explores themes of loss, cultural rituals, and the formal ways in which grief is expressed and contained across traditions, drawing from both personal experience and broader cultural memory.
The Bermondsey Literary Festival was established to celebrate and promote literary creativity within the local community and beyond. Over the course of the week-long event, a diverse range of activities took place, including public readings, writing workshops, panel discussions, and opportunities for both emerging and established writers to share their work. The festival’s programming was designed to engage a broad audience and encourage participation from people of different ages and backgrounds. Events were held across multiple public and cultural venues throughout the borough, reflecting a commitment to making literature accessible to all. The festival also aims to foster connections between writers and readers and to strengthen community ties through shared cultural experiences.
The festival’s International Poetry Prize, also known as the Bermondsey and Beyond Poetry Prize, is a central feature of the event. It invites poets aged 16 and over from anywhere in the world to submit original poems. This competition highlights the festival’s mission to bring international voices into dialogue with the local literary scene. Alongside the winning poem, several additional entries were commended and included in public readings throughout the festival, showcasing a variety of poetic styles and themes.
Ryan Caidic is a prize-winning Filipino poet whose work frequently addresses themes such as diaspora, memory, and identity. His poems have been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies across Europe, Asia, and the United States, including Poetry Wales, Southword: New and International Writing, and Breakwater Review. His work has also been highly commended and shortlisted for many honors including the Bridport Prize and the Wales Poetry Award. His debut poetry collection, 50 Ways Home, is set to be published by Fernwood Press (US) in 2026.
A digital booklet featuring selected poems from the competition, including “Rules for Leaving,” is available online for public reading at: https://www.biglocalworks.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Bermondsey-and-Beyond-Poetry-Competition-Entries-for-website.pdf
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