For the fourth consecutive year, the international photography competition PhOETRY IV is being held, open to both professional and amateur photographers. The competition is part of the 4th multidisciplinary Poetry Moves International Festival, which will take place in October 2026 across various venues in Nicosia.

This unique international competition creates a creative dialogue between poetry and photography. The two art forms interact, intersect, and coexist, producing new forms of expression.

Participation is open to all photographers with no entry fees. The submission period is already underway, with a deadline set for July 10, 2026, at 23:59.

The theme of this year’s edition is “Time – Flows of Time.” The concept aims to highlight the many ways time is experienced in human life, inviting artists to see it as a network of moments. Photographers are encouraged to create works inspired by selected poems exploring memory, decay, loss, rebirth, and everyday life. Time is presented as a flow connecting past, present, and future.

Participants are encouraged to interpret the theme freely, allowing poetry to guide their own perspective. Both color and black-and-white photography are accepted, including digitally processed images.

A total of 25 selected poems are available for inspiration, presented in their original language alongside English or Greek translations. Featured poets include Rosalía de Castro, T. S. Eliot, Anna Akhmatova, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Forugh Farrokhzad, as well as Greek and Cypriot poets such as Miltos Sahtouris and Giorgos Moleskis.

The competition is organized by GSA Cultural Productions Ltd. More information, including submission guidelines and the selected poems, is available on the official festival website.

The Poetry Moves International Festival is a non-profit, multidisciplinary cultural initiative that places poetry at the center of artistic creation. Rather than operating as a conventional poetry festival, it serves as a dynamic platform for dialogue between poetry and other art forms. Each year introduces a new theme that shapes the festival’s artistic direction.

Through curated selections from both Cypriot and international literature, the festival inspires new artistic creations. Its events are spread across Nicosia, forming a city-wide cultural map and offering free access to all activities.