Thank you to everyone who submitted a poem or haiku for this year’s Bug of the Year Poetry Competition. Submissions are now closed. We will announce the winners by 14 Feb 2025.

This year, Bug of the Year and New Zealand Poetry Society Te Rōpū Toikupu o Aotearoa are introducing a Bug of the Year Poetry Competition! We encourage submissions from insect enthusiasts of all ages, and have prizes for different age groups too. You can get started on your poem anytime – we’ve provided a few guidelines below. Poem or haiku submissions can be made from 1-31 January 2025.
Poems should be based on one of the nominees for Bug of the Year 2025, or on your general love for bugs. There is no cost to enter a poem or haiku. However, we encourage participants to consider providing a donation to support Bug of the Year and/or NZ Poetry Society. Only those with a NZ address are eligible for prizes (as we will ship them via post).
**Winning poems and haikus will be published on the New Zealand Poetry Society Te Rōpū Toikupu o Aotearoa’s website as well as in Entomological Society of New Zealand publications and newsletters.
Entry rules for contest eligibility:
- Poems or haikus can be saved as a Word doc, pdf, or jpg using the poem title as your file name. Do not include your name on the file that you upload.
- Poems or haikus should be submitted on this site between 1-31 January 2025 (the submission platform will be available on 1 January).
- Poem topic can be on any of the Bug of the Year 2025 nominees OR a general poem about the love of bugs in general.
- We welcome poems in te reo Māori with English translations.
- Poems should be no longer than 25 lines max
- Poets can submit one entry per bug (up to 22 poems maximum per poet)
- Poems and haiku may be unpublished or previously published. If previously published, please include the name of the publication in which the poems or haiku appeared.
- Poems and haikus are to be written by the submitting author with no assistance from AI.
Share your Poems on Social Media!
We encourage you to share your own poem on social media. When you do, please tag The Entomological Society of New Zealand and New Zealand Poetry Society (see links below), and use hashtag #BugoftheYearPoetry2025 and #nzpoetrysociety.
Links to Entomological Society of New Zealand
Links to New Zealand Poetry Society
Age Groups and Categories
- Primary School (2 prizes)
- Secondary School (2 prizes)
- Adult (2 prizes)
- Best Poem for each nominee (honorary)
Poetry Judge
The judge will be Gail Ingram, Managing Editor of a fine line, flagship magazine for the New Zealand Poetry Society Te Rōpū Toikupu o Aotearoa, and author of three poetry collections, including her most recent – anthology (n.) a collection of flowers, which is presented as a field guide to the native flowers of Aotearoa. (This, of course, features one or two bugs, but not, at this stage will she name any favourites!). She is also a free-lance editor and teacher of creative writing in Ōtautahi, her insect-filled home. She will be looking for bug poems that are perceptive, moving and humorous, that love playing with language and have a distinctive voice.
Timeline
- 1 December 2024: Announcement
- 1 January 2025: Submissions Open
- 31 January 2025: Submissions Close
- 14 February 2025: Poetry Winners Announced
- 21 February 2025: Bug of the Year Winner Announced