Genre: Poetry

Off Topic Writers’ Conference

July/August 2025

The 2025 Off Topic Writers’ Conference was held online on August 9 and August 10. The conference featured craft talks, panels, and workshops for poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. The faculty included poet, fiction writer, and creative nonfiction writer Murgatroyd Monaghan and fiction and creative nonfiction writers Finnian Burnett and Chanel M. Sutherland. Poet Duncan Mercredi and fiction writer Michelle Butler Hallett delivered the keynote addresses. The cost of the conference was $120 (or could be priced on a sliding scale based on financial need).

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
December 1, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
ignore
Application Deadline: 
December 1, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
December 1, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Off Topic Writers’ Conference, 10 Marble Avenue, Paradise, NL A1L 0T3, Canada. Marion Lougheed, Off Topic Publishing Founder and Editor. 

Marion Lougheed
Off Topic Publishing Founder and Editor
Contact City: 
Online
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Buinho Creative Hub Residencies

July/August 2025

Buinho Creative Hub offers residencies of two weeks to two months year-round to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers in the historic town of Messejana, Portugal. Residents are provided with a single- or double-occupancy room in one of three traditional Portuguese houses, as well as access to private and shared studios. The Buinho residence also features a central studio and backyard workshop. The cost of the residency is €800 to €1,000 (approximately $894 to $1,118) per month, depending on the room; transportation and meals are not included.

Type: 
RESIDENCY
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
December 1, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
yes
Application Deadline: 
December 1, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
December 1, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Buinho Creative Hub Residencies, Rua Nova de São Brás 43, 7600-346 Messejana, Portugal. Carlos Alcobia, General Manager.

Carlos Alcobia
General Manager
Contact City: 
Messejana
Country: 
PT
Add Image: 
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Poetry Contest

Grayson Books
Entry Fee: 
$26
Deadline: 
August 15, 2025
A prize of $1,000, publication by Grayson Books, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Alberto Ríos will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 90 pages with a $26 entry fee by August 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Book Prize

Seneca Review Books
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
August 1, 2025
A prize of $2,000 and publication by Seneca Review Books is given biennially for a collection of lyric essays. The winner will also receive an invitation to give a reading with Hobart & William Smith Colleges. Melissa Febos will judge. Hybrid work, verse forms, text and image, and “connected or related pieces” are accepted. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 120 pages with a $27 entry fee by August 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

First Book Award

Academy of American Poets
Entry Fee: 
$35
Deadline: 
September 1, 2025
A prize of $5,000 and publication by Graywolf Press is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer who has not published a book of poetry in a standard edition. The winning book will be distributed to over 5,000 members of the Academy of American Poets. The winner also receives an all-expenses-paid, six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center, a 15th-century castle in Umbria, Italy. Brenda Hillman will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 100 pages with a $35 entry fee (fee waivers may be requested via e-mail) from July 1 to September 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Off the Grid Poetry Prize

Grid Books
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
August 31, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in print and audiobook formats by Grid Books is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer over the age of 60. John Yau will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 50 pages with a $25 entry fee by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Fiction, Poetry, and Nonfiction Contest

Sewanee Review
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
July 31, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Sewanee Review are given annually for a single poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Cindy Juyoung Ok will judge in poetry, Lauren Groff will judge in fiction, and Roger Reeves will judge in creative nonfiction. Using only the online submission system, submit up to six poems or a story or essay of up to 10,000 words with a $30 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Sewanee Review, from July 1 to July 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Jackson Hole Writers Conference

July/August 2025

The 2025 Jackson Hole Writers Conference was held from October 23 to October 25 at the Jackson Hole Center for the Arts in Jackson, Wyoming. The conference featured craft and publishing classes, lectures, panels, readings, and manuscript critiques for poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The faculty included poet Dāshaun Washington; fiction writers Laura Pritchett and Lucas Schaefer; and creative nonfiction writers Julie Barton, Bridget Crocker, and Greg Marshall.

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
yes
Event Date: 
December 1, 2025
Rolling Admissions: 
yes
Application Deadline: 
December 1, 2025
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
December 1, 2025
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Jackson Hole Writers Conference, P.O. Box 3871, Jackson, WY 83001. Matt Daly, Executive Director. 

Matt Daly
Executive Director
Contact City: 
Jackson
Contact State: 
WY
Contact Zip / Postal Code: 
83001
Country: 
US
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction
Creative Nonfiction

Most Wanted and Unwanted

The Time Is Now
6.17.25

To write their latest book, People’s Choice Literature: The Most Wanted and Unwanted Novels (Columbia University Press, 2025), Tom Comitta used data compiled from a specially designed national public opinion poll on literary preference and composed two novels: a formulaic, fast-paced thriller and an experimental epistolary sci-fi romance with elderly aristocratic tennis players as protagonists. Responses to the poll included preferences and aversions to attributes such as characters’ identities, genre, verb tense, setting, and point of view. Taking a cue from this project, jot down a brief list of what you would guess to be the most and least desired attributes of poetry, including rhyme, length, diction, and imagery. Write a “Most Wanted Poem” and “Most Unwanted Poem” based on your list. How do your own idiosyncrasies and thoughts around literary taste infiltrate each piece?

Pages

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