Genre: Poetry

Laura Boss Narrative Poetry Award

Laura Boss Poetry Foundation
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
March 31, 2026
A prize of $5,000, publication by New York Quarterly Books, and 25 author copies is given annually for a collection of narrative poetry. The winner is also invited to give a reading in Paterson, New Jersey, in partnership with the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College. Marge Piercy will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to 10 pages from a manuscript with a $25 entry fee by March 31. Financial assistance is available upon request. Semi-finalists will be notified by June 1 and asked to submit full manuscripts of 70 to 90 pages by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Louise Bogan Award

Trio House Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
March 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet living in the United States. January Gill O’Neil will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 120 pages and a brief bio with a $25 entry fee by March 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Levis Prize in Poetry

Four Way Books
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
March 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Four Way Books is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner is also invited to participate in a reading either virtually or in person in New York City, as public health guidelines allow. Dana Levin will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 80 pages with a $30 entry fee by March 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Poetry Prize

Marsh Hawk Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
April 30, 2026
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Marsh Hawk Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Denise Duhamel will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 84 pages with a $30 entry fee by April 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Tags: 
book awards

Trio Award for First or Second Book

Trio House Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
March 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by Trio House Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a first or second poetry collection by a poet living in the United States. Kinsale Drake will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 120 pages and a brief bio with a $25 entry fee by March 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Writing Fellowships

A Public Space
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
March 31, 2026
Three six-month fellowships of $1,000 each are given annually to emerging poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers who “embrace risk in their work” and have not published a full-length book. The fellows will work with the editors to prepare a piece for publication in A Public Space, receive complimentary access to all A Public Space master classes during the fellowship year, and will have the opportunity to meet with publishing professionals and participate in a public reading. For fellowships from June 1 to November 30, using only the online submission system, submit a résumé, a group of poems totaling no more than 15 pages or a short story or essay of up to 6,000 words with a cover letter and a brief written statement by March 31. There is no application fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Montreal International Poetry Prize

McGill University
Entry Fee: 
$18
Deadline: 
May 1, 2026
A prize of $20,000 Canadian (approximately $14,418) is given biennially for a poem. Natalie Diaz will judge, and Jaswinder Bolina, Kayla Czaga, Boris Dralyuk, Iona Lee, Brandy Nālani McDougall, Sinéad Morrissey, Sachiko Murakami, Robin S. Ngangom, Felicity Plunkett, Sheryda Warrener, Derek Webster, and Sithembele Isaac Xhegwana will serve as preliminary jurors. All entries are considered for publication in The Montreal Poetry Prize Anthology. English self-translations of works originally written in another language are accepted. Using only the online submission system, submit a poem of up to 40 lines with a $25 Canadian (approximately $18) entry fee by May 1; submissions are also accepted from May 2 to May 15 with a $28 Canadian (approximately $20) entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize

TRP
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
March 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by TRP: the University Press of Sam Houston State University, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. francine j. harris will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of up to 40 pages with a $20 entry fee by March 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Poet to Poet: X. J. Kennedy

Caption: 

In this 1997 interview for the Poet to Poet series, X. J. Kennedy reads his poems, including “Nude Descending a Staircase” and “Nothing in Heaven Functions as It Ought,” and talks about his start as a writer with host Robert Dunn. Kennedy, who was awarded the 2015 Jackson Poetry Prize, died at the age of ninety-six on February 1, 2026.

Genre: 
Poetry
Tags: 
X. J. Kennedy
Nude Descending a Staircase
Poet to Poet
interview
in memoriam
Jackson Poetry Prize

Time to Rhyme

The Time Is Now
2.3.26

X. J. Kennedy, winner of the 2015 Jackson Poetry Prize who died at the age of ninety-six on February 1, was known for verses which often incorporated rhyming couplets and light humor. The title poem from his debut 1961 collection, Nude Descending a Staircase, is based on Marcel Duchamp’s painting of the same name and is made up of three short stanzas, beginning with: “Toe upon toe, a snowing flesh, / a gold of lemon, root and rind, / she sifts in sunlight down the stairs / with nothing on. Nor on her mind.” Taking inspiration from this style, select a few works by a favorite artist—whether paintings, sculptures, films, or music—and compose a series of short poems that make use of end rhymes, and perhaps traditional forms of an ode, ballad, elegy, or sonnet. How might deploying a surprising twist of humor inject the poems with a sense of playful energy?

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