Genre: Poetry

Chapbook Contest

Omnidawn Publishing
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
June 16, 2025
A prize of $1,000, publication by Omnidawn Publishing, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Ewa Chrusciel will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 25 to 45 pages with a $30 entry fee by June 16. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Bridport Prizes

Bridport Arts Centre
Entry Fee: 
$14
Deadline: 
May 31, 2025
Two prizes of £5,000 (approximately $6,482) each and publication in the Bridport Prize anthology are given annually for a poem and a short story. A second-place prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,296) and publication is also given in each category. Additionally, a prize of £1,000 (approximately $1,296) and publication is given for a work of flash fiction. Romalyn Ante will judge in poetry, Leone Ross will judge in short fiction, and Toby Litt will judge in flash fiction. Submit a poem of up to 42 lines, a story of up to 5,000 words, or a work of flash fiction of up to 250 words by May 31. The entry fee is £12 (approximately $16) for poetry, £14 (approximately $18) for fiction, and £11 (approximately $14) for flash fiction. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

PEN/Bare Life Review Grants

PEN America
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 1, 2025
Two grants of $5,000 each are given annually for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction works-in-progress “by immigrant and refugee writers, recognizing that the literature of migration is of inherent and manifest value.” Using only the online submission system, submit a writing sample of up to 40 pages of poetry or up to 75 pages of prose, a curriculum vitae, and an outline and description of the project by June 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Q&A With Jennifer Acker of the Common

Caption: 

Jennifer Acker, founder and editor in chief of the Common, answers questions about the journal’s mission, slush piles, and her editorial process in this virtual event with Becky Tuch for the Lit Mag News Roundup. An interview with Acker about the Common’s fifteenth anniversary is featured in the May/June issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

Editors’ Prize Book Award

Cider Press Review
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
June 30, 2025
A prize of $1,000, publication by Cider Press Review, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 80 pages with a $27 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants

PEN America
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 1, 2025
Ten grants of $4,000 each are given annually to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an “outdated or otherwise flawed translation.” A separate grant of $5,000, called the PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature, is also given to support the translation of a book of fiction or nonfiction from Italian into English. Manuscripts with up to two translators are accepted. Using only the online submission system, submit a translation sample of 8 to 10 pages of poetry or prose, a copy of the same passage in the original language, a biography and bibliography of the translated author, a project statement, and the curriculum vitae of the translator by June 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Changing Light Prize

Livingston Press
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 30, 2025
A prize of $500, publication by Livingston Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a novel-in-verse. Eleanor Boudreau will judge. Submit a manuscript of 90 to 160 pages of poetry and a cover letter via e-mail by May 30. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Signs of Spring

4.15.25

What signals to you that spring has finally arrived? While there are signs of transformation throughout the year, the signs of spring often feel particularly special following on the heels of winter as many look forward to the tiniest indications of vernal revitalization. Buzzing bees, daffodils and tulips, pollen that makes you sneeze, the end of clanging heater pipes, wearing shorts, outdoor picnics, and opening windows—there are many associations with the freshness of the season. This week write a series of short poems that focus on the small, perhaps idiosyncratic changes that signify to you, personally, that a new season is upon us.

Zell Visiting Writers Series: Jane Wong

Caption: 

In this event hosted by the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan, Jane Wong reads “To Love a Mosquito,” a chapter from her memoir, Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City (Tin House, 2023), and pieces of her mother’s diary, followed by a discussion about her approaches to poetry versus creative nonfiction.

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