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In this video from the Sage-sponsored “Banned Books From the Big Chair” booth at the American Library Association’s 2025 annual conference, authors and attendees respond to the dangers of book banning and the importance of supporting public libraries and the freedom to read.
A prize of $1,000, bilingual publication in English and Spanish by Gunpowder Press, and 10 author copies will be given annually for a poetry chapbook by a Latinx poet who is a c
In this Alaska Quarterly Review virtual event, poet and naturalist Elizabeth Bradfield reads from her collection SOFAR (Persea Books, 2025) and discusses the relationship of her poetics to ocean ecologies, memories of queer love, and both human and natural histories.
For the Poetry Society of America’s “In Their Own Words” series, Suzanne Buffam writes about her poem “Trying,” which circles around the effort to conceive a child. “The poem became, in a sense, a meditation on effort, in which the suspension of effort was the aim of my efforts,” writes Buffam. “I gave myself one constraint. Each paragraph I wrote would have to contain some form of the verb ‘to try.’” Taking inspiration from Buffam’s constraint for her piece, compose a poem that explores your process trying to reach a goal, whether big or small, tangible or more abstract. Play around with different forms of the verb “to try,” or another verb that gestures at effort, paying careful consideration to how the word conveys a sensation of persistence over the course of time and through various obstacles and setbacks.
In this video, George Takei, honorary chair of Banned Books Week 2025, talks about how “access to books and knowledge is essential to democracy” and how reading provides a way to see ourselves reflected in stories and to discover the stories of others. To learn more, visit the Banned Books Week website.
A prize of $1,000, publication by Anamcara Press, and 50 author copies will be given annually for a poetry collection, story collection, essay collection, novel, or memoir. Using only the online submission system, submit a poetry manuscript of 60 to 120 pages, a fiction manuscript of at least 70,000 words, or a nonfiction manuscript of 80,000 to 100,000 words (plus a summary of 500 to 750 words) with a $25 entry fee by December 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
A prize of $1,500, publication by Lit Fox Books, and 25 author copies will be given annually for a poetry collection. Kristina Marie Darling will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a poetry manuscript of at least 48 pages by January 15, 2026. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Publication in The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses is awarded annually for works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction published by literary magazines or small presses during the current year. Editors may nominate up to six poems, short stories, novel chapters, or essays published, or scheduled to be published, in 2025; submit one copy of each work by December 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to give a reading at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina. Ted Kooser will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of any length with a $20 entry fee by January 15, 2026. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
A prize of $1,000, publication by Longleaf Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner is also invited to give a virtual reading in early 2026. Roger Weingarten will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 50 pages with a $27 entry fee by January 15, 2026. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
