GET the keyboard out and sharpen those pencils – Penfro Book Festival has launched its competitions for 2018.

The popular literary festival is celebrating its eighth year this autumn with a packed three-day programme of events from September 6-9 at Rhosygilwen Mansion, near Cilgerran.

This year there are three writing competitions – the ever-popular poetry competition, a first chapter competition and a short radio drama competition.

The poetry competition, judged by award-winning poet Kathy Miles, has Year of the Sea as its theme.

Kathy said: “I am really looking forward to judging this year’s competition. I’m hoping to see poems that capture the imagination, that engage and excite me with the poet’s unique interpretation of the subject; poems which remain in my head when I go to bed, lines and images that come back to haunt me at odd moments during the day.”

Winners of the short radio drama competition will get the chance to have their work professionally recorded and performed .

The first chapter competition offers a face-to-face consultation with leading Welsh publisher Richard Davies as the top prize.

All the prizes offer professional feedback and guidance – essential in the tough literary world.

To enter just go to www.penfrobookfestival.org.uk and click on competitions.