Genre: Poetry

Ottoline Prize

Fence
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
May 31, 2026
A prize of $5,000, publication by Fence Books (with distribution by Consortium), and 40 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection by a poet 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 $25 entry fee, which includes a two-issue subscription to Fence, by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Cow Creek Chapbook Prize

Pittsburg State University
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
May 15, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by Pittsburg State University, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Using only the online submissions system, submit manuscript of 15 to 30 pages with a $15 entry fee by May 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Poetry Book Prize

Gaudy Boy
Entry Fee: 
$10
Deadline: 
June 1, 2026
A grant of $1,500 and publication by Gaudy Boy, an imprint of the New York City–based literary nonprofit Singapore Unbound, is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer of Asian heritage residing anywhere in the world. Gwee Li Sui will judge. Submit a manuscript of 70 to 120 pages and a cover letter via e-mail with a $10 entry fee (to be sent separately via PayPal) by June 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Auburn Witness Poetry Prize

Southern Humanities Review
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
June 1, 2026
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Southern Humanities Review is given annually for a “poem of witness in honor of the late poet Jake Adam York.” The winner also receives an invitation, lodging, and travel expenses to give a reading at an event with the judge at the Jule Museum at Auburn University. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems with a $15 entry fee by June 1. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

New Writers Awards

Great Lakes Colleges Association
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
May 25, 2026
Three prizes are given annually for first books by a poet, a fiction writer, and a creative nonfiction writer. The winners each receive an all-expenses-paid trip to several of the 13 GLCA colleges, each of which pays an honorarium of $500 to give readings, meet with students, and lead discussions and classes. Books published in 2025 and 2026 are eligible. Faculty members of the colleges will judge. Publishers may submit four copies of one book in each category by May 25. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Guy Owen Prize

Southern Poetry Review
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
May 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Southern Poetry Review is given annually for a single poem. Submit three to five poems totaling no more than 10 pages with a $20 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Southern Poetry Review, by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Canadian First Book Prize

Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 19, 2026
A prize of $10,000 Canadian (approximately $7,299) is awarded annually for a debut poetry collection by a living citizen or permanent resident of Canada published during the previous year. The winner is also offered a six-week fellowship with the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Perugia, Italy. For the 2027 prize, publishers may submit four copies of a book of at least 48 pages in length published between January 1 and June 30 by June 19. The deadline for submitting books published during the second half of the year is December 18. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Anhinga Prize for Poetry

Anhinga Press
Entry Fee: 
$28
Deadline: 
May 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by Anhinga Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner also receives $500 to cover travel costs for the promotion of their book. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 100 pages with a $28 entry fee by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Gravity of Kindness

The Time Is Now
4.7.26

Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem “Kindness,” which appears in her 1995 book, Words Under the Words: Selected Poems, begins: “Before you know what kindness really is / you must lose things….” The next two stanzas start similarly with: “Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness / you must travel…” and “Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, / you must know sorrow….” Compose a three-stanza poem that takes a cue from this parallel structure, starting the first line of each stanza with: “Before you know _____, you must _____.” Think about a quality, such as kindness, that you highly value and how your understanding of it has changed over time. What are the lessons you have learned and what do you hope to pass on to others?

Aurora Writers Workshop

The 2026 Aurora Writers Workshop will be held from June 5 to June 7 at several locations throughout downtown Aurora, Illinois. The workshop will feature small-group craft workshops, a keynote address, a group dinner with a faculty reading, an open mic reading, and generative writing sessions for poets and fiction writers. The faculty includes poet Faisal Mohyuddin and fiction writer Meg Cass. Poet and fiction writer M. Rae Henry will give the keynote address. The cost of the conference, which includes one dinner and a continental breakfast on Sunday, is $200.

Type: 
CONFERENCE
Ignore Event Date Field?: 
no
Event Date: 
June 5, 2026
Rolling Admissions: 
yes
Application Deadline: 
April 13, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
April 13, 2026
Free Admission: 
no
Contact Information: 

Aurora Writers Workshop, 1030 Northfield Drive, Aurora, IL 60505. Kristin LaTour, President.

Kristin LaTour
President
Contact City: 
Aurora
Contact State: 
IL
Country: 
US
Genre: 
Poetry
Fiction

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