Genre: Poetry

Literary Awards

New Letters
Entry Fee: 
$24
Deadline: 
May 19, 2025
Three prizes of $2,500 each and publication in New Letters are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to six poems totaling no more than 30 pages or a story or essay of up to 8,000 words with a $24 entry fee, which includes a subscription to New Letters, by May 19. All entries are considered for publication. 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.

Poetry Book Prize

Barrow Street Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
June 30, 2025
A prize of $1,500 and publication by Barrow Street Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $30 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Award

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
July 1, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication on the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation website is given annually for a single poem that explores “positive visions of peace and the human spirit.” Submit up to three poems of no more than 30 lines each with a $15 entry fee by July 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Ottoline Prize

Fence
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
May 31, 2025
A prize of $5,000, publication by Fence Books (with distribution by Consortium), and 40 author copies will be given annually for a poetry collection by a writer who identifies as a woman and/or female, including trans women and people of variable gender who were assigned female at birth (AFAB). The winner will also receive a two-week residency at the Eliot House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 50 pages with a $20 entry fee, which includes a two-issue subscription to Fence, by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

May Sarton New Hampshire Poetry Prize

Bauhan Publishing
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
June 30, 2025
A prize of $1,000, publication by Bauhan Publishing, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Anthony Walton will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 80 pages with a $30 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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.

Prizes in Poetry and Prose

Bellevue Literary Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
July 1, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Bellevue Literary Review are given annually for a poem, a short story, and an essay about health, healing, illness, the body, or the mind. Patricia Spears Jones will judge in poetry, Joan Silber will judge in fiction, and Nicole Chung will judge in creative nonfiction. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems totaling no more than five pages or up to 5,000 words of prose with a $20 entry fee by July 1. All entries are considered for publication. 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.

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