Genre: Poetry

Writing Contest

Black Warrior Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
August 1, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Black Warrior Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to five poems of any length, a story of up to 7,000 words, or an essay of no more than 6,000 words with a $20 entry fee (fee waivers are available based on financial need) by August 1. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Maine Artist Fellowship

Maine Arts Commission
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
September 3, 2025
A fellowship of up to $5,000 is given annually to a poet, a fiction writer, a creative nonfiction writer, or a writer working in a genre outside these categories who is a resident of Maine and has lived in the state for at least one year. The fellow is expected to reside in the state for the year of the fellowship. Writers who are age 25 or older and are not enrolled in a degree-granting program are eligible. The fellowship committee can appoint a translator to assist in the review of work submitted in a language other than English. Using only the online submission system, submit up to five poems, stories, or essays of no more than eight pages each; an artist statement; and a résumé (or a brief bio) between July 23 and September 3. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Book Awards

Washington Writers’ Publishing House
Entry Fee: 
$28
Deadline: 
July 15, 2025
Three prizes of $1,500 each, publication by Washington Writers’ Publishing House, and 25 author copies are given annually for a poetry collection, a short story collection or novel, and a poetry collection in translation. Writers who live in Washington, D.C., Maryland, or Virginia are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 70 to 100 pages of poetry or 150 to 250 pages of prose with a $28 entry fee by July 15. Following these guidelines, translators may submit a poetry manuscript in English along with the matching selection in the original language. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Muriel Craft Bailey Memorial Poetry Award

Comstock Review
Entry Fee: 
$28
Deadline: 
July 15, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Comstock Review is given annually for a single poem. Carolyne Wright will judge. Submit up to five poems of no more than 60 lines each with a $27.50 entry fee (or $5 per poem via postal mail) by July 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Poetry Contest

Narrative
Entry Fee: 
$26
Deadline: 
July 18, 2025
A prize of $1,500 is given annually for a poem or group of poems. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to five poems of any length with a $26 entry fee by July 18. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Housatonic Book Awards

Western Connecticut State University
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
July 18, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each are given annually for books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published in the previous year. The winners also receive $500 in travel expenses and a hotel stay to give a reading and teach a master class at Western Connecticut State University’s low-residency MFA program. Using only the online submission system, submit a PDF of a book published in 2024 with a $25 entry fee by July 18. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Most Wanted and Unwanted

The Time Is Now
6.17.25

To write their latest book, People’s Choice Literature: The Most Wanted and Unwanted Novels (Columbia University Press, 2025), Tom Comitta used data compiled from a specially designed national public opinion poll on literary preference and composed two novels: a formulaic, fast-paced thriller and an experimental epistolary sci-fi romance with elderly aristocratic tennis players as protagonists. Responses to the poll included preferences and aversions to attributes such as characters’ identities, genre, verb tense, setting, and point of view. Taking a cue from this project, jot down a brief list of what you would guess to be the most and least desired attributes of poetry, including rhyme, length, diction, and imagery. Write a “Most Wanted Poem” and “Most Unwanted Poem” based on your list. How do your own idiosyncrasies and thoughts around literary taste infiltrate each piece?

When in Rome

The Time Is Now
6.10.25

The poems in Charity E. Yoro’s debut collection, Ten-cent Flower & Other Territories (First Matter Press, 2023), largely circle around the political history and her personal experience of the Hawaiʻian islands. Her poem “postcard from rome” takes on the feeling of a postcard that arrives unexpectedly in the mail—a surprising and sudden intrusion of an exotic locale. This week, write a poem titled “Postcard From…” and think back to your memories of visiting a new place. Try to reach far from what’s currently at the forefront of your mind, as well as the themes and topics you typically explore in your poetry. Allow this poem to drop in to your current body of writing like a short, evocative glimpse of another time and place—a gentle disruption to your usual flow.

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