Does the natural world inspire you to write poetry? If so, enter our competition and you could win a fabulous wild week on the Isle of Skye, plus your poem will be published in BBC Wildlife and broadcast on Radio 4's Poetry Please.

Do you have a way with words? If so, why not share your thoughts and feelings about wildlife and nature (no domestic plants or animals please) through verse? This is an intense and intimate writing style, and so the best poetry starts with your own lived experiences. Call upon your senses to create fresh images (avoid clichés), and don't feel you have to write about significant issues.

You can choose any form of poetry that suits you – from free verse to formal rhyme – just keep it to fewer than 50 lines. The poems are judged anonymously, so don't put your name on your entry. Simply fill out the entry form that can be found in the April issue of BBC Wildlife and tape it to the back of your entry.

The Prizes – Adults
The winning poem will be published in the October issue of BBC Wildlife (on sale 25 September) and broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Poetry Please in October.

The winner will also be awarded a wonderful week-long wildlife break on the lovely Isle of Skye and neighbouring Lochalsh, courtesy of Skye and Lochalsh Marketing Ltd. To see the full list of excursions available as part of the 1st prize, please visit www.skye.co.uk/promotions.php?promo=49

Three runners-up, and the poet whose verse most amuses the judges, will each receive a copy of Nature's Top 40: Britain's best wildlife – the country's finest nature spots as voted for by viewers of BBC 2 – and Collins British Wildlife, the definitive photographic guide to Britain's plants and animals, both courtesy of Collins.

The Prizes – Young Poets
There is a prize for the best poem in each of the following age categories:
a) 7 and under
b) 8 to 11
c) 12 to 14
d) 15 to 17

Each young winner will receive a copy of Nature's Top 40 and Collins British Wildlife. Their poems will be published in the October issue of BBC Wildlife and may also be selected for broadcast on Poetry Please.

How to Enter
Your entry must arrive by 23 May 2008. Send it to: BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year 2008, 14th Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN. Young poets please remember to write your category letter on the outside of the envelope. Fax (for overseas entries only): 0044 117 933 8032.

Meet the Judges
Michael Barton, BBC Wildlife Poet of the Year 2007; Sara Davies, executive producer, Poetry Please; Tim Dee, senior producer, Poetry Please; Phillip Gross, professor in creative writing; Simon Rae, poet and author; Sophie Stafford, editor, BBC Wildlife; Sarah Williams, performance poet.

The Rules
1 The competition is open to everyone except employees of BBC Worldwide
Ltd, Skye & Lochalsh Marketing and anyone associated with the contest.
2 Each entrant may enter one poem only, which must not exceed 50 lines and must never have been previously published or broadcast in any media.
3 All entries must be the original work of the entrant, not defame any person or corporate body, nor infringe or breach any rights of copyright.
4 You must not write your name on your entry.
5 The entry form must be fi lled in and taped to the back of the poem. Failure to do this will render your entry ineligible. Photocopied forms are acceptable.
6 If you are 17 or under, state your date of birth (eligibility is determined by your age on 23 May 2008) and write your category letter on your entry and on your envelope.
7 Entries must be received by 23 May 2008. No entries can be returned.
8 By entering the competition, entrants grant BBC Worldwide Ltd, free of charge, the right for all or part of their poem to be published, read,
broadcast and transmitted in all media (now known or hereafter created) or on stage, including the right to be published in BBC Wildlife and any resulting anthology, if the organisers so wish.
9 The poems will be judged by an independent panel selected at the discretion of the contest organisers. BBC Worldwide reserves the right to
change the advertised judges.
10 The organisers reserve the right to withhold prizes if, in the opinion of the judges, entries do not reach the required standard.
11 The judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
12 The holiday prize must be booked by 31 Dec 2008 and taken by 23 May
2009 and is subject to availability. There are no cash alternatives. The
prize cannot be transferred.
13 Winners will be notified by 12 Sept 2008. The results will be published in the October issue of BBC Wildlife (on sale 25 Sept 08) and the winning
poems may be published on Skye & Lochalsh Marketing Ltd’s website, www.skye.co.uk. Poetry Please may also select some poems for broadcast in the autumn.