Genre: Poetry

Wild Women Story Contest

TulipTree Publishing
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
March 8, 2026

A prize of $1,000 and publication in TulipTree Review is given annually for a single poem, a short story, or an essay “whose main characters embody the Wild Woman spirit.” Submit up to five pages of poetry or up to 10,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by March 8. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Self-Publishing Literary Awards

Black Caucus of the American Library Association
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
February 28, 2026
Two prizes of $2,500 each are given annually for a poetry e-book and a fiction e-book self-published by an African American writer during the previous year. The awards honor books that depict “cultural, historical, and sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora.” Using only the online submission system, submit an e-book self-published in 2025 by February 28. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards

Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
February 1, 2026

A prize of $2,000 and publication in Paterson Literary Review is given annually for a single poem. A second-place prize of $1,000 and publication is also given. The winning poets are invited to give a reading at the Poetry Center in Paterson, New Jersey. Using only the online submission system, submit three copies of up to five poems of no more than two pages each with a $20 entry fee by February 1. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Snowbound Chapbook Award

Tupelo Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
February 28, 2026

A prize of $1,000, publication by Tupelo Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Richie Hoffman will judge. Submit a manuscript of 20 to 36 pages with a $25 entry fee by February 28. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Resistance

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.

Unnatural Habitat

11.25.25

Write a poem that begins with the image of an animal arriving where it should not be, such as a whale in an office space or a Zebra in a suburban backyard. Allow this surreal scene to take you to unexpected places and metaphors. Is the animal an omen or is it concealing a secret? Focus on the literal and symbolic dimensions of the encounter, drawing out the scene to illuminate overlooked truths, inner stirrings, and the quiet absurdities of the world around you.

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