Genre: Poetry

Big Moose Prize

Black Lawrence Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
January 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by Black Lawrence Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a novel. The contest is open to traditional novels as well as “novels-in-stories, novels-in-poems, and other hybrid forms that contain within them the spirit of a novel.” The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 90 to 1,000 pages with a $30 entry fee by January 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Tags: 
novel

James Welch Prize for Indigenous Poets

Poetry Northwest
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
February 15, 2026

Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Poetry Northwest are given annually for a single poem by an Indigenous poet. The winners also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to read with the judge at Poets House in New York City in the fall. Writers who have published no more than one full-length book and who are community-recognized members of tribal nations within the United States and its territories are eligible. A Native poet of national prominence will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of no more than three pages each, a cover letter specifying any tribal affiliations and ties, and a brief bio by February 15. All entries are considered for publication. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Cardinal Poetry Prize

Wesleyan University Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
February 28, 2026

An award of $1,000 and publication by Wesleyan University Press will be given biennially for a poetry collection by a writer 40 years or older. The award will be given for a poet who has “taken their time and decided not to rush publication.” Poets who have yet to publish a collection or have not published a collection within the last ten years will be eligible. Robert Pinsky will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 64 pages with a $25 entry fee by February 28. Financial assistance is available on request based on financial need. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Book Contest

Brick Road Poetry Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
February 1, 2026

A prize of $1,000, publication by Brick Road Poetry Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Matthew Layne will judge. Submit a manuscript of 50 to 100 pages with a $30 entry fee by February 1. Finalists are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Maureen Egen Writers Exchange Award

Poets & Writers, Inc.
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
March 1, 2026

Two prizes of $750 each are given annually to a poet and a fiction writer residing in the United States. Both winners also receive a monthlong residency at Jentel Artist Residency in Wyoming and will meet with writers, editors, publishers, and agents virtually or in person in New York City. The 2026 contest is open to residents of Connecticut. Poets and fiction writers who have published no more than one full-length book in the genre in which they are applying are eligible. Submit 7 to 10 pages of poetry or up to 25 pages of fiction via e-mail by March 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Poetry Awards

West Chester University
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
February 20, 2026

Five prizes of $1,000 to $1,500 each are given annually for a single poem “composed in the traditional modes of meter, rhyme, and received forms” (Iris N. Spencer Poetry Award); a single poem written in haiku form (Myong Cha Son Haiku Award); a single poem written in sonnet form (Sonnet Award); a single poem written in villanelle form (Villanelle Award); and a single poem written in Spanish and accompanied by the English translation or translated into Spanish and accompanied by the English original (Rhina P. Espaillat Award). Second-place prizes of $500 are also awarded for the Iris N. Spencer Poetry Award and the Myong Cha Son Haiku Award. Only undergraduate students who are enrolled in a U.S. college or university are eligible. Joan Kwon Glass will judge the first four awards, and Rhina P. Espaillat will judge her titular award. Submit up to three poems and the contact information of one referring professor by February 20. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Award

Broadside Lotus Press
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
March 15, 2026

A prize of $500 and publication by Broadside Lotus Press is given annually for a poetry collection by an African American poet. Submit two copies of a manuscript of approximately 60 to 90 pages by March 15. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Jan Garton Prairie Heritage Book Award

Prairie Heritage, Inc.
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
January 31, 2026

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a published poetry collection, book of fiction, or book of creative nonfiction that “illuminates the heritage of North America’s mid-continental prairies.” Authors, publishers, and the general public may submit two copies of a book by January 31. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Joe Gouveia Outermost Poetry Contest

WOMR/WFMR Community Radio
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
January 12, 2026

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem. Marge Piercy will judge. Submit up to five poems of no more than two pages each with a $15 entry fee by January 12. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Resistance

The Time Is Now
12.2.25

In a tribute published in the Yale Review to Ellen Bryant Voigt, who passed away in October, executive editor Meghan O’Rourke writes: “Through her, I learned to read like a poet. Not to identify themes, as I’d been trained to do as an undergraduate at Yale, but to attend to effects.” This type of close examination included describing poems by how many medium-length lines and periods were in a poem, and how many lines a sentence takes up. “Her rigor taught me how to read my own work as I’d learned to read others’: closely enough to see what it was resisting,” writes O’Rourke. Revisit a poem you’ve written and consider what the work may want to be, and what it might be resisting. What about its syntax or grammar might lead you to these conclusions? Explore reworking the poem a little or a lot to shape how it arrives at its desired effects, or resists them.

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