Genre: Poetry

Wilder Series Poetry Book Prize

Two Sylvias Press
Entry Fee: 
$24
Deadline: 
December 31, 2025

A prize of $1,000, publication by Two Sylvias Press, and 20 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection by a writer over 50 who identifies as female or femme (including those who are assigned-female-at-birth [AFAB] nonbinary, transgender, or genderqueer). The editors will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 80 pages with a $24 entry fee by December 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Book Contest

Burnside Review Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
December 31, 2025

A prize of $1,000, publication by Burnside Review Press, and 10 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Rick Barot will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 50 to 100 pages with a $25 entry fee, which includes one title from the press’s catalogue, by December 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Jack Hazard Fellowships

New Literary Project
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
January 9, 2026
Up to ten fellowships of $5,000 each are given annually to creative writers who are high school teachers to support summer work on an ongoing fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, or poetry project. Full-time instructors at accredited U.S. high schools teaching in the 2025–2026 academic year who are contracted to return to their schools in fall 2026 and who have been teaching for at least three years are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a writing sample of up to 5,000 words of poetry or prose, a brief bio, a curriculum vitae, a project description, and contact information for the head of school by January 9, 2026. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Georgia Poetry Prize

University of Georgia Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
November 30, 2025

A prize of $1,000 and publication by University of Georgia Press is given annually for a poetry collection. The winner is also invited to read from their book at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Georgia. Victoria Chang will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a collection of 50 to 100 pages with a $30 entry fee by November 30. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award

Codhill Press
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
December 30, 2025

A prize of $1,000, publication by Codhill Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. James Sherwood will judge. Submit a manuscript of 48 to 70 pages with a $30 entry fee by December 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

New Millennium Writing Awards

New Millennium Writings
Entry Fee: 
$20
Deadline: 
November 30, 2025

Four prizes of $1,000 each are given biannually for a single poem, a short story, a short short story, and an essay. The winners also receive publication in New Millennium Writings and on the journal’s website. Works that have not appeared in a print publication with a circulation over 5,000 or were published only online, as well as previously unpublished works, are eligible. Submit up to three poems totaling no more than five pages, a short short story of up to 1,000 words, or a story or essay of up to 7,499 words with a $20 entry fee by November 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Rilke Prize

University of North Texas
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
November 30, 2025

A prize of $10,000 is given annually for a poetry collection published in the current year by a midcareer poet. The winner will also give a reading and book signing at the University of North Texas in fall 2026. U.S. poets who have previously published at least two poetry collections are eligible. The University of North Texas poetry faculty will judge. Authors, editors, or publishers may submit three copies of a book published between November 1, 2024, and October 31, 2025, by November 30. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

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book awards

Poetic Fruit

The Time Is Now
9.30.25

“Forget about apples and oranges—nothing rhymes with orange anyway. Never mind those plums that William Carlos Williams sneaked from the icebox. The most poetic fruit of all is the blackberry,” writes A. O. Scott, critic at large for the New York Times Book Review, citing blackberry-inclusive works by poets such as Margaret Atwood, Emily Dickinson, Robert Hass, Seamus Heaney, Galway Kinnell, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Sylvia Plath. Compose a poem inspired by what you consider the most poetic fruit, describing the textures and tastes of your selection, and its associations in the world and in other works of art. Spend some time thinking about the name of the fruit itself, its sounds and component parts and etymological roots. Does conjuring words and phrases that recall the qualities of the fruit take your poem in a surprising or unexpected direction?

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