The Hellbender Gathering of Poets
Poets gather in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to reflect on our climate-changed world.
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Genre: Poetry
Just the Right Distance
In an essay recently published in the Evergreen Review, Eric Dean Wilson writes about discovering the playful use of metaphors in Robert Glück’s 1985 debut novel, Jack the Modernist. While considering what makes one work, Wilson recalls another writer teaching him about metaphor with a metaphor. “A metaphor, the writer said, is like a spark plug,” he says. “At just the right distance, the electrodes cause a spark to arc across the open air, igniting an explosion. The distance between the electrodes matters.” This week compose a poem that cycles through the process of creating an effective metaphor. You might start with the words, “A metaphor is like….” Allow yourself the freedom to play with language that might feel too convoluted as you gradually move toward the right combination to ignite a spark.
Ten Questions for Soham Patel
“In truth, I am still writing The Daughter Industry and likely won’t stop.” —Soham Patel, author of The Daughter Industry
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Annie Wenstrup and Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
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In this event at the University of Arizona Poetry Center, Annie Wenstrup reads from her debut collection, The Museum of Unnatural Histories (Wesleyan University Press, 2025), and Lena Khalaf Tuffaha reads from her latest collection, Something About Living (University of Akron Press, 2024).
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A Celebration of Arab American Heritage and National Poetry Month
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In this New York Public Library event celebrating Arab American Heritage Month and National Poetry Month hosted in partnership with the Radius of Arab American Writers, poets Maha Hashwi, Ghinwa Jawhari, Lawrence Joseph, and Kamelya Omayma Youssef read from their work and discuss their writing in a conversation with senior librarian Reuben Gelley Newman.
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Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize
American Poetry Review
Entry Fee:
$15
Deadline:
May 15, 2026
A prize of $1,000 and publication in American Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem by a poet under the age of 40. The editors will judge. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than three pages with a $15 entry fee, which includes a copy of the prize issue, by May 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Transformation Awards
Leeway Foundation
Entry Fee:
$0
Deadline:
May 15, 2026
Awards of $15,000 each are given annually to women, transgender, and/or gender-nonconforming poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the Philadelphia area who have been creating art for social change for at least five years. Writers who have lived in Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia counties for at least two years and who are not full-time students in a degree-granting arts program are eligible. Submit a completed application form, which includes a list of relevant experience and a statement demonstrating the applicant’s commitment to “art for social change work” by May 15. A panel of community-based artists will review applications and invite selected poets and prose writers to submit work for the second stage of the application process. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required application form and complete guidelines.
PEN/Bare Life Review Grants
PEN America
Entry Fee:
$0
Deadline:
June 15, 2026
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.” 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.
Anthology Poetry Competition
Anthology Magazine
Entry Fee:
$18
Deadline:
June 30, 2026
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,169) and publication in Anthology Magazine is given annually for a single poem. Rachael Hegarty will judge. Submit a poem of no more than 40 lines with a €15 (approximately $18) entry fee by the early bird deadline of June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Changing Light Prize
Livingston Press
Entry Fee:
$0
Deadline:
May 31, 2026
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 31. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
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