Genre: Poetry

O‘ahu Writers Mini-Retreat

November/December 2025

The O‘ahu Writers Mini-Retreat was held on November 29 and November 30 at a historic vacation property in the town of Waialua, on the North Shore of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. The retreat featured generative writing workshops, critiques, and arts and crafts breaks for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The faculty included poet Tamara Leiokanoe Moan, fiction writer Tom Gammarino, and creative nonfiction writer Constance Hale. Tuition was $120 for one day and $200 for both days; lodging was not included, but lunch was.

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
December 30, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
December 30, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
December 30, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

O‘ahu Writers Mini-Retreat, 1040 56th Street, Oakland, CA 94608. (617) 909-1439. Constance Hale, Director.

Constance Hale
Director
Contact City: 
Waialua
Contact State: 
HI
Country: 
US
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Alta California Chapbook Prize

Gunpowder Press
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
November 17, 2025

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

Effort

The Time Is Now
10.7.25

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.

William Matthews Poetry Prize

Asheville Poetry Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
January 15, 2026

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.

Griffin Poetry Prize

Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
December 19, 2025

A prize of $130,000 Canadian (approximately $94,113) is given annually for a poetry collection published during the current year and written in, or translated into, English. Should the prize-winning book be a translation, 60 percent of the prize is awarded to the translator and 40 percent to the poet. Finalists each receive $10,000 Canadian (approximately $7,239) for their participation in the Griffin Poetry Prize Readings held in Toronto. Publishers may submit four copies of a book no less than 48 pages in length and published between July 1 and December 31 by December 19. The deadline for books published during the first half of the year was June 20. Self-published books are not eligible. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

North American Poetry Book Award

Poetry Society of Virginia
Entry Fee: 
$36
Deadline: 
January 15, 2026

A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published during the current year. The winner is also invited to read at the Poetry Society of Virginia’s annual Spring Poetry Festival, held at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, in April 2026. Self-published books are ineligible. Mattie Quesenberry Smith will judge. Submit three copies of a book no less than 50 pages in length that was published in 2025 with a $36 entry fee ($25 for current PSV members), which includes a one-year membership to the organization, by January 15, 2026. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Poetry Chapbook Contest

Center for Book Arts
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
December 31, 2025
A prize of $500 and letterpress publication by Center for Book Arts is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner also receives 10 copies of their chapbook, an additional $500 to give a reading with the contest judge at Center for Book Arts in New York City in fall 2026, and a free weeklong residency at Millay Arts in Austerlitz, New York, for their Wintertide Rustic Retreat. Submit a manuscript of up to 21 pages (or 450 lines) with a $30 entry fee by December 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Pages

Subscribe to Poetry