Genre: Poetry

Tomaž Šalamun Prize

Verse
Entry Fee: 
$17
Deadline: 
March 15, 2026
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Factory Hollow Press is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner also receives an invitation to give a reading at the Tomaž Šalamun Centre for Poetry, translation of their published chapbook into Slovenian from the English, and a monthlong residency in a private apartment at the Tomaž Šalamun Centre for Poetry in Ljubljana, Slovenia, during the summer of 2027. Prose poetry, hybrid works, and translations of works of poetry by living writers from any language into English (with the relevant permission) are also eligible. Heather Christle will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 20 to 28 pages with a $17 entry fee ($13 for students) by March 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Derek Walcott Prize for Poetry

Arrowsmith Press
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
April 1, 2026
A prize of $2,000 is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer who is not a citizen of the United States and was published in English during the previous year. Authors or publishers may submit two copies of one or more books published in 2025 with a $20 entry fee by April 1. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Poetry Prize

Oberon
Entry Fee: 
$18
Deadline: 
April 10, 2026
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Oberon is given annually for a single poem. Submit up to three poems of no more than two pages each with an $18 entry fee, which includes an issue of Oberon, by April 10. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize

Wick Poetry Center
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
May 1, 2026
A prize of $2,500 and publication by Kent State University Press is given annually for a debut poetry collection. The winner is also invited to teach a weeklong writing workshop at Kent State University and give a reading with the judge. Camille T. Dungy will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $27 entry fee by May 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Tags: 
book awards | first book awards

Backwaters Prize in Poetry

Backwaters Press
Entry Fee: 
$32
Deadline: 
May 1, 2026
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Backwaters Press, an imprint of University of Nebraska Press, is given annually for a poetry collection. An honorable mention prize of $1,000 and publication by Backwaters Press is also given. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 60 to 85 pages with a $32 entry fee by May 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Prizes in Poetry and Fiction

Orison Books
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
April 1, 2026
Two prizes of $1,500 each and publication by Orison Books are given annually for a poetry collection and a book of fiction. Leila Chatti will judge in poetry, and Margot Livesey will judge in fiction. Using only the online submission system, submit a poetry manuscript of 50 to 100 pages or a novel, novella, or collection of short stories or flash fiction of at least 30,000 words with a $25 entry fee by April 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest

Winning Writers
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
April 1, 2026
A prize of $2,000, a five-year membership to the submissions manager Chill Subs, a gift certificate for a two-year membership to the literary database Duotrope, and publication on the Winning Writers website is given annually for a humorous poem. A second-place prize of $500 and a two-year membership to Chill Subs is also awarded. Jendi Reiter and Lauren Singer will judge. Unpublished and previously published works are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a poem of up to 250 lines by April 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Poet to Poet: X. J. Kennedy

Caption: 

In this 1997 interview for the Poet to Poet series, X. J. Kennedy reads his poems, including “Nude Descending a Staircase” and “Nothing in Heaven Functions as It Ought,” and talks about his start as a writer with host Robert Dunn. Kennedy, who was awarded the 2015 Jackson Poetry Prize, died at the age of ninety-six on February 1, 2026.

Genre: 
Poetry
Tags: 
X. J. Kennedy
Nude Descending a Staircase
Poet to Poet
interview
in memoriam
Jackson Poetry Prize

Time to Rhyme

The Time Is Now
2.3.26

X. J. Kennedy, winner of the 2015 Jackson Poetry Prize who died at the age of ninety-six on February 1, was known for verses which often incorporated rhyming couplets and light humor. The title poem from his debut 1961 collection, Nude Descending a Staircase, is based on Marcel Duchamp’s painting of the same name and is made up of three short stanzas, beginning with: “Toe upon toe, a snowing flesh, / a gold of lemon, root and rind, / she sifts in sunlight down the stairs / with nothing on. Nor on her mind.” Taking inspiration from this style, select a few works by a favorite artist—whether paintings, sculptures, films, or music—and compose a series of short poems that make use of end rhymes, and perhaps traditional forms of an ode, ballad, elegy, or sonnet. How might deploying a surprising twist of humor inject the poems with a sense of playful energy?

Rachel Eliza Griffiths: The Flower Bearers

Caption: 

In this video, Rachel Eliza Griffiths talks about grief, poetry, vulnerability, and writing her first memoir, The Flower Bearers (Random House, 2026), for an episode of Poured Over: The Barnes & Noble Podcast with host Miwa Messer. For more on Griffiths, read “Marvelous and Dangerous: A Q&A With Rachel Eliza Griffiths” by Renée H. Shea.

Genre: 
Poetry
Creative Nonfiction
Tags: 
Rachel Eliza Griffiths
The Flower Bearers
memoir
Random House
Poured Over
podcast
interview
Miwa Messer
January/February 2026

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