Genre: Poetry

Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Award

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
July 1, 2026
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.

Editors’ Prize Book Award

Cider Press Review
Entry Fee: 
$27
Deadline: 
June 30, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by Cider Press Review, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 80 pages with a $27 entry fee by June 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Chapbook Prize

Oversound
Entry Fee: 
$18
Deadline: 
May 31, 2026
A prize of $1,000, publication by Oversound, and 50 author copies is given annually for a poetry chapbook. Ari Banias will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 15 to 30 pages with an $18 entry fee ($21 for a back issue of Oversound or a chapbook) by May 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Marystina Santiestevan First Book Prize

Conduit Books & Ephemera
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
July 7, 2026
A prize of $1,500, publication by Conduit Books & Ephemera, and 15 author copies is given annually for a debut poetry collection. Bob Hicok will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 90 pages with a $25 entry fee by July 7. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

PEN/Bare Life Review Grants

PEN America
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 1, 2026
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.” 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.

FSG Writer’s Fellowship

Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
July 3, 2026
A prize of $15,000 is given annually to an emerging poet, fiction writer, or creative nonfiction writer from an underrepresented community who has not published and is not under contract to publish a book in any genre. Writers who are citizens or permanent residents of the United States are eligible. The winner also receives mentorship with a Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) author; line edits and structural feedback from two FSG in-house editors; meet-and-greets with representatives at FSG from other departments, including Publicity/Marketing, Art, Subsidiary Rights, and Managing Editorial; and support with networking beyond FSG. Using only the online submission system, submit 8 to 12 pages of poetry or 40 to 50 pages of prose and a statement of purpose of up to 500 words between May 18 and July 3. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grants

PEN America
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
June 1, 2026
Ten grants of $4,000 each are given annually to support the translation of book-length works of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction that have not previously appeared in English or have appeared only in an “outdated or otherwise flawed translation.” A grant of $5,000, called the PEN Grant for the English Translation of Italian Literature, is also given to support the translation of a book of fiction or nonfiction from Italian into English. Manuscripts with up to two translators are accepted. Using only the online submission system, submit a translation sample of 8 to 10 pages of poetry or prose, a copy of the same passage in the original language, a biography and bibliography of the translated author, a project statement, and a curriculum vitae by June 1. There is no entry fee. 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 11, 2026
Financial Aid?: 
no
Financial Aid Application Deadline: 
April 11, 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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