Poetry Contests

The following is a list of poetry contest with links. Many offer substantial cash prizes and publication of the winning manuscript. Please research each contest that you are considering entering, as I only list them; I make no claims as to validity of any of them. Also, some of the links no longer work. I am not removing the information, as contact is available by more than one method.




• AKRON POETRY PRIZE--University of Akron Press, 374B Bierce Library, Akron OH 44325-1703. Ph: 330-972-5342, Fax: 330-972-5132. E-mail: press@uakron.edu. Contest director: Elton Glaser. Annual contest for unpublished poetry. "The Akron Poetry Prize brngs the public writers with original and compelling voices. Books must exhibit three essential qualities: Mastery of language, maturity of feeling and complexity of thought." Deadline: Entries must be postmarked between May 15-June 30. Guidelines avalable online or for SASE. Charges $20. Winning poet recieves $500 and publication of book. The final selection will be made by a nationally prominent poet. The University of Akron Press has the right to publish the winning manuscript, inherent with winning the Poetry Prize. Open to all poets writing in English.

•ANHINGA PRIZE FOR POETRY--Anhinga Press, P.O. Box 10595, Tallahassee, FL 32302. Ph./Fax: 904-442-6323. Contact: Rick Campbell. Offered annually for a book-length collection of poetry by an author who has not published more than one book of poetry. "We use a well-known independent judge." Submit Jan. 1- March 15. For guidelines send #10 SASE. Charges $20 fee. Prize: $2,000 and publication. Open to any writer writing in English.

•GEORGE BOGIN MEMORIAL AWARD--Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park S., New York, NY 10003. Ph: 212-254-9628. E-mail: timothyd@poetrysociety.org. Contact: award director. Offered for a selection of four to five poems that reflects the encounter of the ordinary and the extraordinary, uses language in an original way, and takes astand against oppression in any of its forms. For guidelines, send #10 SASE. Guidelines subject to change. Deadline for submission: December 19. $5 fee for non-members. Prize: $500.

•BUCKNELL SEMINAR FOR YOUNGER POETS--Stadler Center for Poetry, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837. Ph: 717-524-1853. E-mail: sstyers@bucknell.edu. Director: Cynthia Hogue. Contact: Steven Styers, assistant to the director. Offered annually. "The seminar provides an extended opportunity for undergraduates to write and be guided by established poets. It balances private time for writing, disciplined learning, and camaraderie among the ten Fellows selected." Deadline: March 1. Send #10 SASE for guidelines. Prize: 10 fellowships provide tuition, room, board, and spaces for writing during the 4-week long seminar. Fellows are responsible for their own transportation. Only students from American colleges who have completed their sophomore, junior, or senior year are eligible to apply.

•CANADIAN CHAPBOOK MANUSCRIPT CONTEST--League of Canadian Poets, 54 Wolseley St., Toronto, Ontario M5T 1A5 Canada. Ph: 416-504-0096. E-mail: league@ican.net. Offered annually for unpublished work to seek and encourage new poetic talent. Deadline: March 1. For guidelines send #10 SASE. Charges $5 fee. Prize: $1000 plus publication. Canadian citizens or landed immigrants only.

•CANADIAN YOUTH POETRY CONTEST--League of Canadian Poets, 54 Wolseley St., Toronto, Ontario M5T 1A5 Canada. Ph: 416-504-0096. E-mail: league@ican.net. Offered annually for unpublished work to seek and encourage new poetic talent. Deadline: March 1. For guidelines send #10 SASE. Charges $5 fee. Prize: 1st-$500, 2nd-$350, 3rd-$250. Canadian citizens or landedimmigrants only.

•CLEVELAND STATE UNIVERSITY POETRY PRIZE--Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1983 E. 24 St., Cleveland, OH 44115-2440. Ph: 216-687-3986, fax: 216-687-6943. E-mail: poetrycenter@popmail.csuohio.edu.Contact: Poetry Center Coordinator. Established: 1962. Offered to identify, reward, and publish the best unpublished book-length poetry manuscript submitted. Submissions accepted only December-February. Deadline: Postmarked on or before March 1. $15 fee. "Submission implies willingness to sign contract for publication if manuscript wins." $1,000 prize for best manuscript. One or more of the other finalist manuscripts may be published for standard royalty (no prize). Send SASE for guidelines. Manuscripts are not returned.

•ALICE FAYE CASTAGNOLA AWARD--Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park S., New York, NY 10003. Ph: 212-254-9628. E-mail: timothyD@poetrysociety.org. Contact: Award Director. Manuscript in progress: poetry, prose or verse-drama. For guidelines send #10 SASE. Guidelines subject to change. Deadline December 19. Prize: $1,000. Members only.

•EDITOR'S PRIZE--Spoon RIver Poetry Review, Campus Box 4240, English Dept., Illinois State Universtiy, Normal, IL 61790-4240. Ph: 309-438-7906. Fax: 309-438-5414. Contest director: Lucia Cordell Getsi, editor. Offered annually to unpublished poetry "to identify and reward excellence." Deadline May 1. Guidelines send #10 SASE. Charges $15/3 poem fee (entitles entrant to a year's subscription valued at $14.) Prizes: 1st-$500, two $100 runner-up prizes, publication of first place, runners-up, honorable mention, and selected finaist poems. Judged by a nationally known poet. Open to all writers.

•NORMA FARBER FIRST BOOK AWARD--Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park S., New York, NY 10003. Ph: 212-254-9628. E-mail: timothyD@poetrysociety.org. Contact: Award Director. First book of original poetry submitted by the publisher. Deadline: Dec. 19. $10/book fee. Guidelines send #10 SASE. Guidelines subject to change. Prize $500.

•THE 49TH PARALLEL POETRY AWARD--The Bellingham Review, M.S. 9053, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225. Contest Director: Robert Hemley. Established 1977. Offered annually for unpublished poetry. Submit January 5-March 5. Send #10 SASE for new guidelines. The entry fee is $10 for up to three poems, $5 per poem thereafter. Make checks payable to The Western Foundation/Bellingham Review. Awards: 1st-$1000, 2nd-$300, 3rd-$200, plus publication and copies.

• GROLIER POETRY PRIZE--Grolier Poetry Book Shop, Inc.& Ellen LaForge Memorial Poetry Foundation, Inc. 6 Plympton St., Cambridge, MA 02138. Ph: 617-547-4648. Contact: Ms. Louisia Solano. Established 1973. For previously unpublished work to encourage and recognize developing writers. Open to all poets who have not published with either a vanity, small press, trade or chapbook of poetry. Opens January 15; deadline: May 1. Guidelines must be followed. Send SASE. $6 entry fee. Prize: honorarium of $150 for two poets. Also poems of each winner and 4 runners-up will be published in the Grolier Poetry Prize Annual.

•ERNEST HEMINGWAY POETRY PRIZE--International Hemingway Festival, 2323 Del Prado Blvd., Cape Coral, FL 33990. Ph.: 941-945-0308. Contact: Mina Hemingway. Offered annually for unpublished poets. Deadline: May 1. Guidelines and entry form send SASE. $10 entry fee. Prize: $250, publication in "Sanibel Captiva Review" and entry to Ernest Hemingway Literary Conference. Winner announced last day of festival.

•IOWA POETRY PRIZES--University of Iowa Press, 119 W. Park Rd, Iowa City, IA 52242. Fax: 319-335-2055. Contact: Holly Carver, interim director. "The awards were initiated to encourage mature poets and their work." manuscipts recieved in May. Send Sase for guidelines. No reader's fee. Two $1,000 prizes are awarded annually. Competition open to writers of English. who have published at least one previous book.

•RANDALL JARRELL POETRY PRIZE--North Carolina Writer's Network, 3501 Highway 54 West, Studio C, Chapel Hill, NC 27516. E-mail: ncwriters@unc.sunsite.edu. Contact: Frances O. Dowelll, program coordinator. Offered annually for unpublished work "to honor Randall Jarrel and his life at UNC-Greensboro by recognizing the best poetry submitted." Deadline: November 1. Send SASE for guidelines. $ 7 entry fee. Prize $500, a public reading and reception and publication in "Parnassus: Poetry in Review".

•THE JUNIPER PRIZE--University of Massachusetts, Amhurst, MA 01003, Ph.: 413-545-2217. Fax: 413-545-1226. Contact: Chris Hammel, assistant editor. Established 1964. Subsequent book of poetry. Deadline: September 30. $10 entry fee.

• BARBARA MANDIGO KELLY PEACE POETRY AWARDS--Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 1187 Coast Village Rd., Suite 123, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Fax: 805-568-0466. E-mail: wagingpeace@napf.org. Contact: Chris Pizzinat and Ruth Floyd. Offered annually for unpublished poems "to encourage poets to explore and illuminate some aspect of peace and the human spirit." Deadline: Postmarked by July 1. Send SASE for guidelines. $ fee for 1-3 poems. No fee for youth entries. Prizes: Adult-$500, youth (13-18)-$250, youth (12 and under) $250. Judged by a committee of poets chosen by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation reserves the right to publish and distribute the award winning poems. Open to any writer.

•(HELEN AND LAURA KROUT MEMORIAL) OHIOANA POETRY AWARD--Ohioana Library Association, 65 S Front St., Suite 1105, Columbus, OH 43215. Ph: 614-466-3831, Fax: 614-728-6974. E-mail: ohioana@winslo.ohio.gov Contact: Linda R. Hengst. Offered annually "to an individual whose body of work has made, and continues to make, a significant contribution to the poetry and through whose wrok, interest in poetry has been developed." Deadline: December 31. For guidelines send SASE. Prize: $1,000. Recipient must have been born in Ohio or lived in Ohio at least five years.

•THE JAMES LAUGHLIN AWARD --The Academy of American Poets, 584 Broadway, Suite 1208, New York, NY 10012-3250. Ph: 212-274-0343 ext. 14, Fax: 212-274-9427. E-mail: poets@artswire.org Contact India Amos. Offered annually to submissions under contract with publishers. Previously published entries must have come under contract during the 12 months preceding the deadline. The purpose of the award is to recognize and suppoert a poet's second book. Deadline: April 30. For guidelines send SASE. Prize: $5,000 and the Academy will purchase at least 6,000 hardcover copies for distribution. Judged by a panel of three poets. Submissions must be in English by one poet, and it must be the poet's second book.

• LOCAL 7'S ANNUAL NATIONAL POETRY COMPETITION --Santa Cruz/Montery Local 7, National Writers Union, P.O. Box 2409, Aptos, CA 95001-2409. Contact: Contest Coordinator. Offered annually for previously unpublished poetry to encourage the writing of poetry and to showcase unpublished poets of high quality. Proceeds support the work of Local 7 of the National Writer's Union. Deadline varies. For guidelines send #10 SASE. $3/poem fee. Prize: 1st-$200; 2nd-$100; 3rd-$50.

•LOUISE LOUIS/EMILY F. BOURNE STUDENT POETRY AWARD --Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park S., New York, NY 10003. Ph: 212-254-9628. E-mail: timothyd@poetrysociety.org. Director: Timothy Donnelly. Offered annually for published work to promote excellence in student poetry. Deadline: December 22. For guidelines send SASE. Fee: $1 per students submitting single entries; $10 per school submitting unlimited number of student's poems. Prize: $100. Judged by prominent established poets. Open to American high school or preparatory school students, grades 9-12.

•LYRIC POETRY AWARD--Poetry Society ofAmerica, 15 Gramercy Park, New York, NY 10003. Ph: 212-254-9628, Fax: 212-673-2352. E-mail: timothyD@poetrysociety.org Director: Timothy Donelly. Offered annually for unpublished work to promote excellence in the lyric poetry field. Deadline: December 19. Send SASE for guidelines. Prize: $500.

• THE LENORE MARSHALL PRIZE--"the Nation" and the Academy of American Poets, 584 Broadway, Suite 1208, New York, NY 10012. Ph: 212-274-0343 ext. 14. Email: poets@artwire.org. Awards Administrator: India Amos. Book of poems published in the US during the previous year and nominated by the publisher. Prize: $1000. Deadline: December 19. Members only.

• MID-LIST PRESS FIRST SERIES AWARD FOR POETRY--Mid-List Press, 4324 12th Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55407-3218. Fax: 612-823-8387. E-mail: guide@midlist.org. Contact: Lane Stiles, senior editor. Established 1990. Offered annually for unpublished book of poetry to encourage new poets. Deadline: February 1. Send SASE for guidelines (also available at website). Fee: $15. Prize: publication and advance against royalties. Judges by Mid-List's editors and ms readers. Winners are offered a contract at the conclusion of the judging. Contest is open to any writer who has never published a book of poetry. note: "We do not consider a chapbook to be a book of poetry."

•MORSE POETRY PRIZE--Northeastern University English Department, 406 Holmes Hall, Boston, MA 02115. Ph: 617-437-2512. Contact: Guy Rotella. Previously published poetry, book length manuscripts of first or second books. Fee: $10. Prize: Publication by Northeastern University Press and a $500 cash award. Deadline: September 15.

•KATHRYN A. MORTON PRIZE IN POETRY--Sarabande Books, 2234 Dundee Rd., Suite 200, Louisville, KY 40205. Ph: 502-458-4028, Fax: 502-458-4065. E-mail: sarabande@aol.com. Contact: Sarah Gorham, editor-in-chief. Offered annually to award publication to an outstanding collection of poetry. Submissions accepted January 1- February 15. Send SASE for guidelines. Fee: $15. Prize: $2000, publication (paper and cloth), standard royalty contract. All finalists considered for publication. Judged by nationally prominent writers.

•THE FRANK O'HARA AWARD CHAPBOOK COMPETITION--Thorngate Road, Campus Box 4240, English Dept., Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4240, Ph: 309-438-7705, Fax: 207-438-5414. E-mail: jmelled@ilstu.edu. Director: Jim Elledge. Offered annually to published or unpublished poetry. "To recognize excellence in poetry by gays, lesbians, and bi-sexuals. Entrants may be beginners, emerging poets, or those with a national reputation. Poems may be formal, free verse, post-modern, prose poems, etc." Deadline: February 1. For guidelines send SASE. Fee: $15/manuscript. Prize: $500 and publication of the winning manuscript; author also recieves 25 copies of chapbook.

•NATALIE ORNISH POERTRY AWARD IN MEMORY OF WAYNE GARD(note: this link does not work. It is possible that this contest no longer exists, but I am leaving it here anyway. If you are interested in it, I advise you to call the number given to check before submitting.)--The Texas Institue of Letters, P.O.Box 298300, Fort Worth, TX 76129. Ph: 817-921-7822, Fax: 817-257-5075. E-mail: jalter@gamma.is.tcu.edu. Submissions must be marked Attn: TCU Press. Contact: Judy Alter. Offered annually for previously published work between January 1 and December 31 of the year before award is given to honor the writer of the best book of poerms published during the previous year. Deadline: January 4. For guidelines send SASE. Prize: $1,000. Judged by a panel of three. Poet must have been born in Texas, have lived in the state at some time for at least two consecutive years, or subject matter associated with the state.

•PAUMANOK POETRY AWARD--Visiting Writers Program, SUNY Farmingdale, Knapp Hall Farmingdale, NY 11735. E-mail: brownml@farmingdale.edu. Contact: Margery L. Brown, director, visiting writers program. Offered annually for published or unpublished poems. Send cover letter, 1-paragraph bio, 1-5 poems (name and address on each poem). Include SASE for notification of winners. (Send photocopies only as manuscripts will not be returned.) Deadline September 15. Fee: $12, payable to SUNY Farmingdale VWP. Prize: 1st-$1,000plus expenses for a reading in the visiting poets series. 2 runners-up-$500 plus expenses for a reading in the series.

•POET LORE NARRATIVE POETRY CONTEST--Poet Lore, The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh St., Bethseda, MD 20815. PH: 301-654-8664. E-mail: postmaster@writer.org. Contact: Phillip Jason. Established 1889. Offered annually for unpublished narrative poems of 100 lines or more. Deadline: November 30. Prize: $350 and publication in Poet Lore. Poet Lore has the first publication rights for poems submitted. All rights revert to the author after publication in Poets Lore.

•QUARTERLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE POETRY SERIES--26 Haslet Ave., Princeton, NJ 08540--QRL Poetry Series is a book publsishing sries chosen from an open competition. Publishes 4-6 titles a year. Prize: $1000, publication and 100 copies to each winner for a book of miscellaneous poems, a single long poem, a poetic play or a book of translations. Send SASE for guidelines.

•SHELLEY MEMORIAL AWARD--Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park S., New York, NY 10003. Contact: Award Director. By nomination only to a living American poet. Prize: $2000-$6000. Deadline December 19.

•SLIPSTREAM ANNUAL POETRY CHAPBOOK COMPETITIONSlipstream,Box 2071, Niagra Falls, NY 14301, Ph. 716-282-2616 after 5 P.M. EST.,Contact Dan Sicoli, Director. Offered annually to help promote a poet whose work is often overlooked or ignored. Send SASE for guidelines. $10 entry fee. Prize: $500 and 50 copies of published chapbook. Deadline December 1.

•SPRING AND FALL POETRY CHAPBOOK CONTESTS--White EAgle Coffee Store Press, P.O. Box 383, Fox River Grove, IL 60021-0383 Ph. 847-639-9200. Contact: Frank E. Smith, Publisher. Send SASE for guidelines. Offered twice yearly to unpublished poetry chapbooks, 20-24 pages in length. $10 entry fee. Prize $200, publication, and 25 copies of book. Open to any writer. Deadlines March 30 and September 30.

•:ANN STANFORD POETRY PRIZE--The Southern California Anthology, c/o Master of Professional Writing Program, WPH 404, U.S.C., Los Angeles, CA 90089-4034. Previously unpublished poetry to honor excellence in poetry in memory of poet and teacher Ann Stanford. Send #10 SASE for guidelines. Entry fee $10. Prizes: 1st-$750, 2nd-$250, 3rd--$100Winning poems are published in Southern California Anthology. All entrants receive a free issue. Deadline: April 15.

•STILL WATERS PRESS POETRY CHAPBOOK COMPETITIONS--459 s. Willow Ave.,Galloway Township, NJ 08201-4633. Contact: Shirley Lake, Founding Editor. Two contests offered annually to unpublished chapbooks or previously published poems in chapbooks. Prizes: Publication with review distribution and publicity package, plus copies. Entry fee:$10. Deadlines: Women's Words Competition (open to women only)--February 28; Winter (open to women and men)--September 30.

•THE WASHINGTON PRIZE--(note: this link does not work.)The Word Works, Inc., P.O. Box 42164, Washington, DC 20015 Contact: David Moore. Offered annually honoring the best full length poetry manuscript(48-64 pages)submitted to the Word Works each year. The Washington Prize is the only forum in which unsolicited manuscripts are considered. Send business sized SASE for guidelines. Entry fee: $20. Prizes: $1000 and book publication. All entrants receive a copy of the winning book. The Word Works acquires first and subsequent English language publication rights. No manuscripts will be returned.

•THE WALT WHITMAN AWARD--The Academy of American Poets, 584 Broadway, Suite 1208, New York, NY 10012-3250. Contact: India Amos. Offered annually o publish and support a poet's first book. Send SASE for guidelines. Fee: $20. Prize: $5,000, a one month residency at the Vermont Studio Center, and publication by the Louisiana State University Press. Submissions in English only, no translations. Contestants must be living U.S. citizens and not have published or committed to publish a volume of poetry of 40 pages or more in length in an edition of 500 copies or more. Submissions accepted September 15-November 15.

•STAN AND TOM WICK POETRY PRIZE--Wick Poetry Program, Department of English, Kent State University, P.O. Box 5190 Kent, Ohio 44242-0001. Phone: (330) 672-2067 Email: wickpoet@kent.edu. Sens SASE for guidlines. First Book Prize open to anyone writing in English who has not prviously publishedfull length book (48 pages or more in an edition of 500 or more copies). Entry fee: $15. Prize: $2000 and publication by Kent State University Press. Deadline: May 1.

•WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS AWARD--Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park, New York, NY 10003. Ph: 212-254-9628, Fax: 212-673-2352. E-mail: timothyD@poetrysociety.org Director: Timothy Donelly. Offered annually for a book of poetry published by a small press between Oct. 1 and Dec. 21. Send SASE for guidelines. $10 entry fee. Prize: between $500 and $1000. Winning books are distributed to PSA members on request. Deadline: December 20.

•ROBERT H. WINNER MEMORIAL AWARD--Poetry Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park, New York, NY 10003. Ph: 212-254-9628, Fax: 212-673-2352. Send #10 SASE for guidelines. E-mail: timothyD@poetrysociety.org Contact: Award director. For a poet whose first book appeared when he was almost 50, recognizing and rewarding the work of someone in midlife. Open to poets over 40, still unpublished or with one book. Fee: $5.00 for non-members. Prize: $2,500. Deadline: December 19.

•YALE SERIES OF YOUNGER POETS--Yale University Press, P.O. Box 209040, New Haven, CT 06520-9040. Contact: Richard Miller. Send SASE for guidelines. First book of poetry by a poet under the age of 40. Fee: $15. Winning manuscript is published by the Yale University Press. The author receives royalties. Deadline: Submit during February.