Genre: Poetry

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.

Radcliffe Institute Fellowships

Harvard University
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
September 11, 2025
Fellowships of $78,000 each, as well as office space at the Radcliffe Institute and access to the libraries at Harvard University, are given annually to poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers to allow them to pursue innovative projects. Fellows, who are expected to reside in Cambridge, Massachusetts, or the surrounding Boston area during the fellowship period, September through May, also receive $5,000 to cover project expenses. Poets who have published a full-length collection or at least 20 poems in magazines or anthologies in the last five years and who are in the process of completing a manuscript are eligible. Fiction and nonfiction writers who have published one or more books, have a book-length manuscript under contract for publication, or have published at least three shorter works are eligible. Writers who are graduate students or enrolled in a degree-granting program at the time of application are not eligible. For 2026–2027 fellowships, submit up to 10 poems of any length or a short story, a recent book chapter, or an essay totaling no more than 30 pages; a curriculum vitae; a project proposal; and contact information for three references by September 11. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Cantor Prize

Talking Gourds
Entry Fee: 
$12
Deadline: 
August 31, 2025
A prize of $1,000 is given annually for a single poem about the state of Colorado or written by a poet residing in Colorado. José A. “Tony” Alcántara will judge. Submit a poem of up to 125 lines totaling no more than three pages with a $12 entry fee ($30 for three poems) by August 31. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

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?

When in Rome

The Time Is Now
6.10.25

The poems in Charity E. Yoro’s debut collection, Ten-cent Flower & Other Territories (First Matter Press, 2023), largely circle around the political history and her personal experience of the Hawaiʻian islands. Her poem “postcard from rome” takes on the feeling of a postcard that arrives unexpectedly in the mail—a surprising and sudden intrusion of an exotic locale. This week, write a poem titled “Postcard From…” and think back to your memories of visiting a new place. Try to reach far from what’s currently at the forefront of your mind, as well as the themes and topics you typically explore in your poetry. Allow this poem to drop in to your current body of writing like a short, evocative glimpse of another time and place—a gentle disruption to your usual flow.

Heid E. Erdrich

Caption: 

In this video, Heid E. Erdrich reads from her collections Verb Animate: Poetry and Prompts From Collaborative Acts (Trio House Press, 2024) and Little Big Bully (Penguin Books, 2020), and answers questions about hope, memories, and revision for this Jensen Lecture Series event hosted by Western Oregon University.

Genre: 
Poetry
Tags: 
Heid E. Erdrich
Verb Animate: Poetry and Prompts From Collaborative Acts
Little Big Bully
Jensen Lecture Series
Western Oregon University
reading
2025

Pages

Subscribe to Poetry