Genre: Poetry

Literary Artist Fellowships

Mississippi Arts Commission
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
March 1, 2026

Fellowships of up to $5,000 each are given in alternating years to Mississippi poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. This year the fellowships will be offered in poetry and fiction. Applicants must be permanent residents of Mississippi. Students enrolled full-time in a degree-granting program are ineligible. Using only the online submission system, submit 5 to 10 pages of poetry or 15 to 20 pages of prose written in the past five years, a résumé, a brief bio, a writer’s statement, and a fellowship impact statement by March 1. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Tags: 
grants

Morton, McCarthy, and Sarabande Prizes

Sarabande Books
Entry Fee: 
$34
Deadline: 
February 15, 2026

Three prizes of $2,000 each and publication by Sarabande Books are given annually for a poetry collection, a work of fiction, and an essay collection. For the Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry, using only the online submission system, submit a poetry collection of at least 48 pages with a $34 entry fee by February 15. For the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction, using only the online submission system, submit a collection of stories or novellas or a short novel of 150 to 250 pages with a $34 entry fee by February 15. For the Sarabande Prize in the Essay, using only the online submission system, submit an essay collection of 150 to 250 pages with a $34 entry fee by February 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Raiziss/De Palchi Fellowship

Academy of American Poets
Entry Fee: 
$0
Deadline: 
February 15, 2026
A fellowship of $25,000 is given biennially to support the translation into English of a work of modern Italian poetry. The winning translator will also receive a five-week residency at the American Academy in Rome. Gian Maria Annovi, Patrizio Ceccagnoli, and Anna Kraczyna will judge. Using only the online submission system, translators may submit a proposal and 15 pages of a translation-in-progress, alongside copies of the original poems, by February 15. There is no entry fee. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Individual Artist Grants for Women

Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
January 31, 2026

Grants of up to $2,000 each are given in alternating years to feminist poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers who are citizens of the United States or Canada. This year, grants will be awarded to fiction writers. Using only the online submission system, submit 10 to 15 pages of prose, a statement regarding interest in receiving support from a feminist fund, a project description, a budget, and a résumé with a $25 entry fee between January 1 and January 31. A limited number of fee waivers are available upon request. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Prizes in Poetry and Prose

Slippery Elm
Entry Fee: 
$15
Deadline: 
February 1, 2026

Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Slippery Elm are given annually for a single poem and a short story or essay. Using only the online submission system, submit up to three poems of any length or up to 5,000 words of prose with a $15 entry fee, which includes the latest issue of Slippery Elm, by February 1. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Airlie Prize

Airlie Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
March 15, 2026
A prize of $1,000 and publication by Airlie Press is given annually for a poetry collection. The editors will judge. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of 48 to 90 pages with a $25 entry fee (or a $33 entry fee, which includes a copy of the winning poetry collection) by March 15. Financial assistance is available for BIPOC and trans writers. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

New American Poetry Prize

New American Press
Entry Fee: 
$25
Deadline: 
January 15, 2026

A prize of $1,500, publication by New American Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a poetry collection. Rick Barot will judge. Writers of any citizenship working anywhere in the world are eligible. Using only the online submission system, submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages with a $25 entry fee by January 15. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Michael Waters Poetry Prize

Southern Indiana Review
Entry Fee: 
$35
Deadline: 
February 2, 2026

A prize of $6,000 and publication by Southern Indiana Review Press is given annually for a poetry collection. Carl Phillips will judge. Submit 40 to 120 pages of poetry (no more than one poem per page) with a $35 entry fee, which includes a subscription to Southern Indiana Review, by February 2. All entries are considered for publication. Visit the website for complete guidelines.

Tags: 
book awards

Resistance

The Time Is Now
12.2.25

In a tribute published in the Yale Review to Ellen Bryant Voigt, who passed away in October, executive editor Meghan O’Rourke writes: “Through her, I learned to read like a poet. Not to identify themes, as I’d been trained to do as an undergraduate at Yale, but to attend to effects.” This type of close examination included describing poems by how many medium-length lines and periods were in a poem, and how many lines a sentence takes up. “Her rigor taught me how to read my own work as I’d learned to read others’: closely enough to see what it was resisting,” writes O’Rourke. Revisit a poem you’ve written and consider what the work may want to be, and what it might be resisting. What about its syntax or grammar might lead you to these conclusions? Explore reworking the poem a little or a lot to shape how it arrives at its desired effects, or resists them.

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