The Ledbury Poetry Festival Competition 2003 was launched on Friday and already 1,000 entries forms have been sent out.
The cover of the entry form, showing a Herefordshire country scene, is a "sneak preview" of the front of the July festival's main programme.
Dr Bennett said the poetry competition is one of the most popular aspects of the festival, and attracts around 3,000 entries.
He said: "It is one of the most popular competitions in the UK. We do all right."
This year, prizes worth £1,000 are up for grabs and entry forms are available at Ledbury Tourist Information Centre, The Homend.
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