Genre: Poetry

Common Words

2.25.25

According to the Oxford English Corpus, a text corpus of twenty-first-century English with over two billion words collected from online and print sources produced by Anglophone countries, time, person, year, way, and day are the top five most common nouns in the English language. Browse through lists of the most common words, whether nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions, pronouns, or articles. Instead of making use of unusual language, write a poem that revolves around playing with the most common ones. Experiment with how you might be able to manipulate unconventional repetition, syntax, spacing, or grammar to express fresh and unexpected meanings.

Evie Shockley at Smith College

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In this event hosted by the Boutelle-Day Poetry Center at Smith College, Evie Shockley reads a selection of new poems, as well as some from her latest poetry collection, suddenly we (Wesleyan University Press, 2023), and discusses her vision for solidarity in these times in a conversation with Yona Harvey.

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Patrycja Humienik

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In this episode of Tightwires with host Hiba Tahir, poet Patrycja Humienik talks about navigating grad school and writing, identity, and her debut collection, We Contain Landscapes (Tin House, 2025), which is featured in Page One in the March/April issue of Poets & Writers Magazine.

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Poetry Prize

Fish Publishing
Entry Fee: 
$16
Deadline: 
March 31, 2025
A prize of €1,000 (approximately $1,029) and publication in the Fish Publishing anthology is given annually for a single poem. The winner is also invited to read at the anthology launch event at the West Cork Literary Festival in July, along with nine finalists whose work will also be published in the anthology. Billy Collins will judge. Submit a poem of up to 60 lines with a €16 (approximately $16) entry fee for online entries or €19 (approximately $20) for postal entries by March 31. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Emerging Writer’s Contest

Ploughshares
Entry Fee: 
$30
Deadline: 
May 15, 2025
Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication in Ploughshares are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. Each winner also receives a consultation with the literary agency Aevitas Creative Management. Writers who have not published a book or a chapbook with a print run of over 300 copies are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit three to five pages of poetry or up to 6,000 words of prose with a $30 entry fee (there is no entry fee for current subscribers), which includes a subscription to Ploughshares, by May 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Editor’s Prizes

Florida Review
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
April 15, 2025
Three prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Florida Review are given annually for a poem or group of poems, a short story, and an essay. The editors will judge. Submit up to five poems of any length or up to 30 pages of prose with a $25 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Florida Review, by April 15. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Poetry International Prize

Poetry International
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
April 30, 2025
A prize of $1,000 and publication in Poetry International is given annually for a single poem. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of any length with a $15 entry fee ($3 for each additional poem) by April 30. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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