OPEN CALL: DERRICOTTE/EADY PRIZE
Caven Canem
DEADLINE: November 5, 2023 at 11:59 pm EST
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: Established in 2015 and named after Cave Canem's Co-founders Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady, the Derricotte/Eady Prize is a collaboration with O, Miami to spotlight exceptional chapbook manuscripts by Black poets.
AWARD: The winner of the prize receives a $1,000 award, publication of their manuscript by O, Miami Books, 10 copies of the chapbook, a residency in The Writer’s Room at The Betsy Hotel in Miami, and a featured reading. Previous judges include: Robin Coste Lewis; Dawn Lundy Martin; Ross Gay; Major Jackson; Danez Smith; Mahogany L. Browne; Lillian Yvonne-Bertram; and Herman Beavers.
ABOUT THE JUDGE: Tara Betts is the author of Refuse to Disappear, Break the Habit, and Arc & Hue. Tara was the inaugural Poet for the People at University of Chicago’s Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture and the Pozen Center. She is currently the Professor of Practice and Poet in Residence at DePaul University’s Peace, Conflict Studies, and Social Justice Program. Tara also coedited The Beiging of America: Being Mixed Race in the 21st Century, a new edition of Philippa Duke Schuyler's memoir Adventures in Black and White, and Carving Out Rights from Inside the Prison Industrial Complex. In addition to writing new fiction, She is working on poems for her second collaboration with Peggy Choy Dance Company and co-editing an anthology of Bop Poems with Afaa M. Weaver.
ABOUT O, MIAMI: O, Miami builds literary culture in Miami, FL. In collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, O, Miami produces a visiting writer series, a publishing imprint, a poets-in-the-community workshop program, and the O, Miami Poetry Festival, which has the annual goal of every single person in Miami-Dade County encountering a poem during the month of April. O, Miami publishes print books, e-books, zines, chapbooks, posters, and other stuff. The mission of our publishing program is to contribute to a regional identity for Miami-based literary publishing and provide opportunities for South Florida voices to find new audiences. For more, visit omiami.org.
ABOUT THE BETSY HOTEL: The Betsy – South Beach is an award-winning global arts hotel and home of The Betsy Writer’s Room that has hosted over 800 artists, thought leaders, poets and creators in residence. The Betsy is also the home of O, Miami Poetry Festival, Miami Classical Music Festival and host Hotel to many of South Florida’s leading regional charitable, arts and culture organizations. Poetry programs are inspired by the work of mid-century poet Hyam Plutzik, three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and father of Betsy owner Jonathan Plutzik. The Betsy Hotel, located on iconic Ocean Drive, beachfront, is also home of The Betsy Poetry Rail, a public installation that champions the work of 12 writers that shaped Miami Culture.
cavecanem.submittable.com/submit
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LITERATURE GRANT
Café Royal Cultural Foundation
DEADLINE: November 6, 2023 at 9:00 am ET (or when they reach their limit of 40 applications, which ever comes first).
INFO: Café Royal Cultural Foundation NYC will award a writing grant to authors of fiction / creative nonfiction, poetry and playwriting.
AWARD: Up to $10,000.00
ELIGIBILITY:
Authors in fiction / creative non-fiction, poetry and playwriting.
The applicant must be the originator of the written material.
Grants will not be made for the purpose of research only.
Grants will not be made for equipment.
Writers applying must be a current resident of New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying and plan to be a resident through the completion of their project.
Grants awarded in this category may fund costs associated with continuing the composition of work submitted. Such as:
Course Reduction (if you're a Teacher/Professor)
Salary Replacement
Living Expenses
Research Expenses
Travel Research Expenses
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS:
Up to and no more than a 15 page PDF of the work, for the Café Royal Cultural Foundation Selection and Executive Committee to download and read. Please make sure your links are correct and not password protected. If they are not correct or have password protection your application will be declined and not reviewed by the Selection Committee.
A short description of the project.
A short author biography of the person(s) involved.
Budget must not exceed the amount of $10,000.00.
List of costs of how you plan to use the grant funds.
(Please review our lists of Approved and Ineligible Budget Items for Literature Grant Funds, located below)
Travel and Research costs within the United States must demonstrate a direct correlation to the project for which you are applying.
You may not apply for International Travel and Research Costs.
If you are hiring fact checkers / editors / research assistants please be aware that we prefer that individuals providing these services are located in the NYC area.
Writers applying must be a current resident of New York City and have lived there for a minimum of one year prior to applying and plan to be a resident through the completion of their project.
We ask that the completion of your manuscript is no sooner than 90 days after this application's due date and no later than 12 months after your grant’s award date.
Applicants can only apply with the same project twice.
You may apply in a different cycle with a different project.
caferoyalculturalfoundation.org/literature-page
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THE 2024 CAVE CANEM FELLOWSHIP
Cave Canem
DEADLINE: November 10, 2023 at 11:59 pm EST
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: Since 1996, Cave Canem has awarded Fellowships to more than 500 Black poets. Cave Canem Fellows are among the most distinguished poets in the field, not only as recipients of the highest literary honors and critical acclaim but also for their service in communities across the country.
Each year a cohort of 10–20 new Fellows is selected based solely on the quality of their poems. Cohorts encompass a range of different aesthetics and poetic practices (the spoken word tradition, formalism, multimedia performance, text-based composition, etc.), to ensure an equity of voices in our gathering—all united by a common purpose to improve craft and find productive space.
Fellows receive an unparalleled opportunity to study with a world-class faculty and join a community of peers at the Retreat, a week-long series of intensive poetry workshops, thought-provoking presentations, both public & private readings, and creative discourse. Due to our generous community of institutional funders and individual donors, there is no submission fee for the Fellowship application and the Cave Canem Retreat is free to all Fellows.
The Cave Canem Fellowship includes:
Invitation to the Retreat
A subscription to MasterClass
Access to Fellows and Faculty Fund
Access to exclusive scholarships for select writing residences
Archival training
Inclusion in public programming (readings, panels, multigenre collaborations, etc.)
Subscription to Digest, a bimonthly Cave Canem resource containing community news and exclusive offers
The Retreat will be held from June 9 to June 16, 2024
cavecanem.submittable.com/submit
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: THE COMMUTER
Electric Lit
SUBMISSION PERIOD: November 13 - 19, 2023 (or until the submission cap of 375 in prose and poetry is met)
INFO: The Commuter is our home for poetry, flash, graphic, and experimental narratives. It publishes weekly on Monday morning, and has showcased the likes of Caroline Hadilaksono, Aleksandar Hemon, Jonathan Lethem, Lindsay Hunter, Tahirah Alexander Green, and Julia Wertz.
GUIDELINES:
For Prose, submit one or more pieces, either standalone or connected, in a single document. The total word count should not exceed 1500 words. We encourage writers to push boundaries.
For Poetry, submit 4–6 poems in a single document, and please limit the page count to 8. Keep in mind that due to our digital platform, not all poems may render exactly as they appear in a PDF.
For Graphic Narrative, we are interested in both traditional and non-traditional forms of visual storytelling. Submit up to 3 pieces of narrative illustration, comics, mixed media narrative, or genre-negative oddments. For comics, each piece should contain a minimum of 3 panels. The total page count of your submission should not exceed 20 pages.
Please submit all genres in .doc, .docx, or PDF.
Please submit only once per category.
Work previously published in any form cannot be considered.
Please include your email address.
If your work is selected, we offer a total payment of $100.
Writers with a submission pending with Recommended Reading may still submit to The Commuter.
electricliterature.submittable.com/submit
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2023 Poetry Prize
Nightboat Books
DEADLINE: November 15, 2023 at 11:59pm ET
ENTRY FEE: $28 (In the event that the judges do not select a manuscript for publication, reading fees will be returned to all entrants).
INFO: 2023 Nightboat Poetry Prize is now open! The Nightboat editors will select up to four manuscripts for publication.
ELIGIBILITY: Any poet writing in English, including international Anglophone writers. Previous book publication is not a consideration for eligibility. Poems published in print or on-line periodicals, anthologies, or chapbooks may be included, but the manuscript itself must be unpublished. Original work only; translations are not eligible for the prize.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Family members and former students of Nightboat editors may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships. Former employees of Nightboat Books, including interns, may not submit to the contest.
FORMAT: Minimum of 48 pages, paginated, no more than one poem per page. Please include a title page (we do not read submissions blind, so it’s fine to include your name), a table of contents, and an acknowledgments page if applicable. You’re welcome to include images in your manuscript, but please note that we are not able to print in full-color.
SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS: Simultaneous submissions are acceptable. Please notify Nightboat Books immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS: Submission of more than one manuscript is acceptable. Each manuscript must be submitted separately, each with a separate entry fee.
INTERNATIONAL SUBMISSIONS: We accept International Submissions.
REVISIONS: The winner will have the opportunity to revise the manuscript before publication. No revisions will be considered during the reading period.
Winner(s) will be announced by April 2024. Winning collection(s) to be published Fall 2025-Spring 2026.
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2024-2025 Writing Fellowship
The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown
DEADLINE: November 15, 2023
INFO: Since its creation 50 years ago, the Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship has become one of the leading residency programs in the world.
Each year, the Work Center offers 20 seven-month residencies to a juried group of emerging visual artists, fiction writers, and poets. Each Fellow receives an apartment, a studio (for visual artists), and a monthly stipend of $1,250 plus an exit stipend of $1,000. Residencies run from October 1 through April 30. During this time, Fellows have the opportunity to pursue their work independently in a diverse and supportive community of peers.
The Fine Arts Work Center has hosted more than 1,000 Fellows since 1968, nurturing an accomplished and far-reaching alumni network. The impact of the experience is best illustrated by the extensive list of awards Fellows have gone on to win, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, MacArthur Fellowship, Prix de Rome, Pulitzer Prize, and the Nobel Prize in Literature.
THE RESIDENCY: During the course of the Fellowship, each Writing Fellow is invited to give a public reading and each Visual Art Fellow is given a solo exhibition opportunity. Readings and openings are attended by current and past Fellows, local residents, visitors to Provincetown, leadership of the town’s numerous cultural institutions, and the many illustrious artists and writers who make their homes in Provincetown. Events take place in the beautifully renovated public spaces of the Work Center: the Stanley Kunitz Common Room and Hudson D. Walker Gallery.
VISITING ARTISTS + WRITERS: While in residence, Fellows also help select a series of visiting artists and writers. These visiting artists and writers meet with the Fellows for studio visits and manuscript reviews and give public readings and artist talks that draw thousands from Provincetown and beyond. Visiting guests have included presidential inaugural poet Elizabeth Alexander; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel; winner of the National Book Award for Poetry Mark Doty; Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress Robert Pinsky; artist and MacArthur Fellowship recipient Judy Pfaff; and Katherine Porter, whose work is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
The Work Center’s founders believed that seven months was the minimum amount of time needed for artists and writers in the crucial early stages of their careers to learn to structure their lives around their creative practice. Each generation of Fellows ideally moves on from the Work Center with a firm belief in their ability to pursue a life as a practicing artist or writer.
fawc.org/the-fellowship/
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2024 national Prize for Poetry
Philadelphia Stories
DEADLINE: November 15, 2023
ENTRY FEE: $5
INFO: Philadelphia Stories’ National Prize for Poetry is an annual national poetry prize featuring a first place $1,000 cash award. Three runners up will each receive a $250 cash award. The winning and runner up poems are published in the Spring issue. These poems and honorable mentions appear online. Philadelphia Stories’ National Prize for Poetry celebrates risk, innovation, and emotional engagement. We especially encourage poets from underrepresented groups and backgrounds to send their work.
2024 JUDGE: Kirwyn Sutherland is a Clinical Research Professional and poet who makes poems centering the black experience in America. He was one of five poets to represent the Philadelphia Pigeon Poetry Slam Team at the National Poetry Slam in Oakland California in 2015. Kirwyn’s work has been published in American Poetry Review, Cosmonauts Ave., Blueshift Journal, Voicemail Poems, APIARY Magazine, FOLDER, The Wanderer and elsewhere. Kirwyn has served as Editor of Lists/Book Reviewer for WusGood Magazine, poetry editor for APIARY Magazine, and is a Watering Hole fellow. Kirwyn has a chapbook, Jump Ship, on Thread Makes Blanket Press.
GUIDELINES:
The $5 fee covers the submission of (1) one single poem up to three pages in length. Each poem must be submitted individually. Multiple poems submitted in the same document will not be considered.
Poets may submit as many individual poems as they like so long as they are each in a single document. There will be a $5 fee for each submission.
Submission fees are not refundable.
Simultaneous submissions are accepted; however, we must be notified immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. If your simultaneously submitted poem is accepted elsewhere, please WITHDRAW your submission as soon as possible. And congratulations!
We will only consider work previously unpublished in print or online.
Poets currently residing in the United States are eligible.
All submissions should use a 12 pt font and standard typeface (not Comic Sans or Impact, etc.).
Poets should only upload Word documents [.doc, .docx]. The AUTHOR’S NAME SHOULD NOT APPEAR ANYWHERE IN THE UPLOADED DOCUMENT.
Submissions will be accepted via the website. If you have any trouble uploading to the site, please email contest@philadelphiastories.org.
philadelphiastories.org/poetry-contest/
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Rising Writer Prize
Autumn House Press
DEADLINE: November 30, 2023
INFO: The 2024 Rising Writer Prize is for a first full-length book of poetry. The Autumn House staff and select outsider readers will serve as the preliminary readers, and the final judge is Eduardo C. Corral. The winner receives publication of a full-length manuscript and $1,500.
We will announce the contest’s finalists and winner by March 15, 2024.
GUIDELINES:
Must be the author’s first full-length poetry collection (previous publications of chapbooks and full-length books in other genres are fine)
The winners will receive book publication, a $1,000 honorarium, and a $500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book
All finalists will be considered for publication
Submissions should be approximately 50 – 80 pages
The reading fee is $25 (We will waive the submission fee for those undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means. Before you reach out to request a waived fee, please read our full statement and instructions here. If the guidelines are not followed, we will not be able to offer a waived fee.)
Do not include your name anywhere on the actual manuscript; if your name appears within the body of the text, please omit it or black it out
You may include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable
Do not include an acknowledgments page in the manuscript
Feel free to include a table of contents
Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but please let us know immediately if your book was accepted elsewhere
Friends, family members, and former students of judges or Autumn House editors may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships
Former employees of Autumn House, including interns, may not submit to the contest
JUDGE: Eduardo C. Corral is the son of Mexican immigrants. He’s the author of Guillotine, published by Graywolf Press, and Slow Lightning, winner of the 2011 Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. He’s the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lannan Foundation Literary Fellowship, a Whiting Writers’ Award, an NEA Fellowship, and a Hodder Fellowship from Princeton University. He teaches in the MFA program at North Carolina State University.
autumnhouse.org/submissions/rising-writers-prize/
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Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers
Kenyon Review
DEADLINE: November 30, 2023
INFO: The Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize, created in 2007 to recognize outstanding young poets, is open to high school sophomores and juniors. The contest is named in honor of Patricia Grodd in recognition of her generous support of The Kenyon Review and its programs, as well as her passionate commitment to education and deep love for poetry.
PRIZE: The winner receives a full scholarship to the 2024 Kenyon Review Young Writers Workshop. The winner and two runners-up will have their selected poems published in the print edition of the Kenyon Review and on our website.
kenyonreview.org/submit/patricia-grodd/
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CALL for submissions: Rhapsody of Regret
Black Fox Literary Magazine
DEADLINE: November 30, 2023 by midnight EST
ENTRY FEE: $12
INFO: Black Fox is accepting submissions for its ninth writing prize. The theme for this round is “Rhapsody of Regret.” We are open to loose interpretations of the theme in any genre, as always.
What lies underneath the weight of regret?
So often, regrets are reminders of roads not taken, words left unsaid, and chances not taken. They echo in the deepest parts of our minds, insisting on what might have been. Whether fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry, we’re looking for work that uncovers the multifaceted nature of regrets. What emotions, lessons, and transformations emerge in retrospect?
Please submit your strongest fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, and we will choose one winner that we feel interprets the theme best.
AWARD: The prize is $300 and publication in the Winter 2024 issue.
All submissions are considered for publication in the Winter 2024 issue.
blackfoxlitmag.com/contests
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Scholars-in-Residence Program Fellowship 2024-25
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
DEADLINE: December 1, 2023
INFO: The Scholars-in-Residence Program offers both long-term and short-term fellowships designed to support and encourage top-quality research and writing on the history, politics, literature, and culture of the peoples of Africa and the African diaspora, as well as to promote and facilitate interdisciplinary exchange among scholars and writers in residence at the Schomburg Center.
Long-term fellowships provide a $35,000 stipend to support postdoctoral scholars and independent researchers who work in residence at the Center for a continuous period of six months. The Scholars-in-Residence Program provides funding for six fellows each year, three of whom are supported by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Selected fellows can choose to begin their term either in September or in January. Fellows are provided with individual office space and a computer, research assistance, and full access to the unparalleled resources of the Schomburg Center. In addition to pursuing their own research projects, fellows also engage in an ongoing interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, sharing their research with one another in a weekly work-in-progress seminar. While in residence, they are also exposed to the vibrant intellectual life of the Schomburg through its public exhibitions, panels, screenings, and events.
Short-term fellowships are open to postdoctoral scholars, independent researchers, and creative writers (novelists, playwrights, poets) who work in residence at the Center for a continuous period of one to three months. Short-term fellows receive a stipend of $3000 per month. (These short-term fellowships are a recent addition to the Scholars-in-Residence Program, having been offered for the first time in the 2017-18 application cycle; they are funded by an endowment provided by the Ford Foundation and the Newhouse Foundation.)
Both long-term and short-term fellowships are awarded for continuous periods in residence at the Schomburg Center. Fellows are expected to devote their full time to their research and writing. They are expected to work regularly at the Schomburg Center and to participate in the intellectual life of the Scholars-in-Residence Program. Fellows may not be employed during the period in residence, except on sabbaticals from their home institutions. Those selected as Scholars-in-Residence are encouraged to supplement their stipends with funding support from their home institutions or other non-residential fellowships or grants if the requisite approval is received from the Schomburg Center.
The deadline for applications is December 1, 2023. The online system will open for new applications on September 1. Keep checking this page for updates or sign up for our free enewsletter Schomburg Connection. If there are any questions, please email sir@nypl.org.
ELIGIBILITY: The Scholars-in-Residence Program is intended for scholars and writers requiring extensive, on-site research with collections at the Schomburg Center, the pre-eminent repository for documentation on the history and cultures of peoples of African descent around the globe. Fellows are expected to be in full-time residency at the Center during the award period and to participate in scheduled seminars and colloquia. The Program is intended to support research in African diasporic studies undertaken from a humanistic perspective; projects in the social sciences, science and technology, psychology, education, and religion are eligible if they utilize a humanistic approach and contribute to humanistic knowledge.
Candidates who need to work primarily in the New York Public Library's other research libraries – the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, and the Science, Industry and Business Library – are not eligible for this fellowship, nor are people seeking funding for research leading directly to a degree. (Applications are accepted from current doctoral students, as long as they will defend their dissertation and graduate before starting the fellowship tenure.) Only U.S. citizens, permanent residents and foreign nationals who have been resident in the United States for the three years immediately preceding the application deadline may apply.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:
A complete application must include:
The Schomburg Center Scholars-in-Residence Application.
A 1500-word description of the proposed study.
Curriculum vitae (limit to 3 pages).
Names of references (long-term fellows must submit three recommendation letters; short-term fellows must submit a minimum of two letters). References will receive an e-mail instructing them how to upload their recommendations.
DESCRIPTION OF STUDY:
In no more than 1500 words the applicant should provide a detailed description of the proposed study, including but by no means restricted to the following elements:
A statement of the topic under consideration with specific reference to the major questions, problems, and theses being investigated.
An outline of the plan for carrying out the study or project.
Discussion of the sources in the Schomburg Center and other research units of The New York Public Library that the applicant plans to use for the study and plans for examining them.
Description of research methods.
Applicant's competence in the use of any foreign languages needed to complete the study.
The place of the study in the applicant's overall research and writing program.
The significance of the study for the applicant's field and for the humanities in general.
The final objective and expected outcomes of the project. Plans for publications, lectures, exhibitions, teaching, and other vehicles of dissemination should be detailed. Fellows will be expected to share and discuss their research and writing with other scholars-in-residence in the weekly work-in-progress seminar during their residency.
SELECTION CRITERIA:
Applications for the Scholars-in-Residence Program will be reviewed by a Selection Committee consisting of five external reviewers, a rotating panel of accomplished scholars and writers with expertise across the fields of study covered by the fellowship. The Selection Committee is convened and chaired by the Director of the Scholars-in-Residence Program.
Fellows will be selected on the basis of the following criteria:
Relationship of the project to the resources of the Schomburg Center.
Qualifications of the applicant.
Quality and feasibility of the project plan.
Importance of the proposed project to the applicant's field and to the humanities.
Relationship of the project to the humanities.
Likelihood that the project will be completed successfully.
The provisions for making the results of the project available to scholars and to the public at large.
Applicants selected for the Program will be notified in late March.
nypl.org/help/about-nypl/fellowships-institutes/schomburg-center-scholars-in-residency/application
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Award for New Poets
Frontier Poetry
DEADLINE: December 1, 2023
SUBMISSION FEE: $20
INFO: This fall, we’re delighted to bring back our Award for New Poets! We’re looking to uplift an up-and-coming poet, with no more than one full-length collection forthcoming or published at the time of submission. We award $3,000 for the winning poem, selected by our guest judge. Our second- and third-place winners receive $300 and $200, respectively. All three winners will be published.
Our judge this year is torrin a. greathouse, whose “Burning Haibun” Frontier Poetry first published in 2017, and who is now an award-winning poet and professor. We love seeing a poet’s origins and the many ways they move and grow in their work, and this award is an opportunity for us to help you along that path! Send us your innovative poems, your passion projects, the work you can’t wait for the world to share in!
ABOUT OUR JUDGE: torrin a. greathouse is a transgender cripple-punk poet and essayist. She received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota. Their work has been featured in Poetry Magazine, The Rumpus, the New York Times Magazine, Ploughshares, and The Kenyon Review. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Effing Foundation for Sex Positivity, Zoeglossia, the Ragdale Foundation, and the University of Arizona Poetry Center. They are the author of Wound from the Mouth of a Wound (Milkweed Editions, 2020), winner of the 2022 Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and DEED (Wesleyan University Press, 2024). She teaches at the Rainier Writing Workshop, the low-residency MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University.
GUIDELINES:
Submissions are open to new and emerging writers (for this contest, we define this as poets with no more than one full-length published work forthcoming at the time of submission).
As part of our dedication to the pursuit of a more inclusive publishing world, there is a free submission window for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, person of color) poets at the beginning of the contest until our cap of fifty. Please note the portal will close when we hit our cap.
Do not include any identifying information in the body of your document.
Send up to three poems per submission, for a total of no more than five pages. We have no aesthetic or formal requirements and consider all styles of poetry.
Please submit unpublished poems only.
We welcome simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
You may submit multiple times, but each submission requires a separate $20 fee.
Please provide a brief cover letter that includes a short, third-person bio with your publication history and any applicable content warnings.
Submissions are open internationally, to any poet writing in English. Inclusion of other languages is welcome, as long as the poem is primarily written in English.
Please do not submit work if you have a personal relationship with the judge.
If you haven't already, please verify your email address with Submittable for more consistent communication.
We will not accept AI-generated work for this contest.
If you have any questions, please visit our FAQ page first. If you don’t find the answer to your question, you can send an email to contact (at) frontierpoetry (dot) com.
frontierpoetry.com/poetry-awards/
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Short Forms Contest
Room Magazine
DEADLINE: December 1, 2023
ENTRY FEE:
If you reside in Canada: $39 CAD
If you reside in the US: $49 CAD
If you reside outside North America: $59 CAD
includes a one-year subscription to Room, beginning with Issue 47.1 (March 2024).
INFO: Our 2023 Short Forms Contest is now open!
Please note: Each entry can consist of one or two prose poems, flash fictions, or flash creative non-fiction works of up to 500 words. Authors are not required to clarify which genre(s) they are writing in, as long as each work is 500 words or less. All submissions, regardless of genre, will be judged in a single category.
AWARD:
FIRST PRIZE: $500 + publication in Room
SECOND PRIZE: $350 + publication in Room
HONOURABLE MENTION: $150 + publication on Room’s website
2023 JUDGE: Tsering Yangzom Lama’s debut novel, WE MEASURE THE EARTH WITH OUR BODIES, was a finalist for The Giller Prize, The Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writers Prize, The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, and The Jim Deva Prize for Writing that Provokes. Winner of the GLCA New Writers Award, the novel has also been longlisted for The Carol Shields Prize, The VCU Cabell First Novel Prize, The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and The Toronto Book Awards.
Tsering holds an MFA in Writing from Columbia University and a BA in Creative Writing and International Relations from the University of British Columbia. A lifelong activist, Tsering is a Storytelling Advisor at Greenpeace International, where she guides and trains people around the world in storytelling. Born and raised in Nepal, she currently splits her time between Vancouver, Canada and Sweden. WE MEASURE is being published in eight languages and ten countries.
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Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets
The African Poetry Book Fund / Prairie Schooner / University of Nebraska
DEADLINE: December 1, 2023
ENTRY FEE: $0
INFO: The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry is awarded annually to an African poet who has not yet published a collection of poetry. The winner receives USD $1000 and book publication through the University of Nebraska Press and Amalion Press in Senegal.
The African Poetry Book Fund Editorial Board, including Kwame Dawes, Chris Abani, Matthew Shenoda, John Keene, Gabeba Baderoon, Phillippaa yaa de Villiers, Aracelis Girmay, and Bernardine Evaristo, will judge.
A winner will be announced in early January, with notifications sent shortly thereafter.
ELIGIBILITY: The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets will only accept “first book” submissions from African writers who have not published a book-length poetry collection. This includes self-published books if they were sold online, in stores, or at readings. Writers who have edited and published an anthology or a similar collection of other writers’ work remain eligible.
An “African writer” is taken to mean someone who was born in Africa, who is a national or resident of an African country, or whose parents are African.
Only poetry submissions in English can be considered. Work translated from another language to English is accepted, but a percentage of the prize will be awarded to the translator.
No past or present paid employees of the University of Nebraska Press or Amalion Press, or current faculty, students, or employees at the University of Nebraska, are eligible for the prizes.
MANUSCRIPT:
Poetry manuscripts should be at least 50 pages long.
The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript. All entries will be read anonymously. Please include a cover page listing only the title of the manuscript (not the author’s name, address, telephone number, or email address). An acknowledgements page listing the publication history of individual poems may be included, if desired. No application forms are necessary. Eligible writers may submit more than one manuscript.
While we have no specific formatting rules, we suggest sending your manuscript in Times New Roman or Arial, 12 point font, single-spaced. We also prefer one poem per page, meaning a new poem does not begin on the same page on which another ends.
africanpoetrybookfund.submittable.com/submit
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Jane Underwood Poetry Prize
The Writing Salon
DEADLINE: December 1, 2023
ENTRY FEE: $15
INFO: The Jane Underwood Poetry Prize was established to celebrate and memorialize Jane Underwood, the founder and long-time director of The Writing Salon who passed away in 2016. Jane was a gifted poet who made The Writing Salon a prominent and respected creative writing school in the San Francisco Bay Area. She was well known for her generous spirit and her direct and encouraging teaching style. A posthumous collection of her poems, entitled When My Heart Goes Dark, I Turn the Porch Light On, was published in 2017. Open to all poets, the prize is awarded for a single poem.
AWARD:
$500
Publication of the winning poem at The Writing Salon’s website
An invitation to do a featured reading at The Writing Salon
FINAL JUDGE: Craig Santos Perez is an indigenous Chamoru from Guam. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of San Francisco and a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of six books of poetry and the academic monograph Navigating Chamoru Poetry: Indigeneity, Aesthetics, and Decolonization (2022). He is also the co-editor of seven anthologies, including Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia (2019) and Indigenous Pacific Islander Eco-Literatures (2022)
CONTEST GUIDELINES:
The contest is open to all poets.
Contestants may submit one entry of up to 3 poems. Poems must be sent in a single file.
Each of the 3 poems may not exceed 80 lines in length.
We do not consider previously published work, which includes online publications.
Files should not include any information that reveals the identity of the author. Any entries that reveal the author’s identity will be discounted.
File name must include the full or abbreviated title of each poem submitted.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Notify us immediately if a poem is placed elsewhere by sending an email to submissions@writingsalons.com.
Email and mail submissions will not be read.
All rights revert to the author upon publication of the poem.
The winner and finalists will be announced at our website.
writingsalons.com/awards-resources/jane-underwood-poetry-prize/
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Mesa Refuge Residency
DEADLINE: December 1, 2023
APPLICATION FEE: $50
INFO: Mesa Refuge welcomes a diverse community of writers—both emerging and established—who define and/or offer solutions to the pressing issues of our time. Particularly, it is our priority to support writers, activists and artists whose ideas are “on the edge,” taking on the pressing issues of our time including (but not limited to): nature, environment and climate crisis; economic, racial and gender equity; social justice and restorative justice; immigration; health care access; housing; and more.
We especially want writers of nonfiction books, long-form journalism, audio and documentary film. Occasionally we accept poetry, fiction (Young Adult/Adult Literary), screenwriting and playwriting, photojournalism, personal memoirs (as a vehicle to tell a larger story) and graphic narrative. We tend not to accept academic writing. The potential impact and distribution of your project is also important.
We aim to support a diverse community of writers and welcome applicants that represent a broad spectrum of race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, immigration status, religion or ability. Please see our DEI statement for more information about our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
We typically have one application deadline during the year: December 1. Applications received in December will be considered for residencies throughout the following year.
As a small nonprofit, our application fee of $50 helps underwrite the cost of application review. However, we do not want the application fee to be a barrier to apply. To request a fee waiver, please email us directly here.
Our application process is anonymous, and the questions are mostly short answer. We require one writing sample (max 2,000 words or 10 pages), a current resume, headshot photo and two references (we do not require letters of recommendation). Applicants will be contacted approximately 8-10 weeks after the application deadline.
Our residencies are two weeks long and there is no residency fee. Additional residency expenses like travel, transportation and food are your responsibility. Our facility accommodates three residents at a time.
2024 RESIDENCY DATES:
Session 1: March 1-March 14
Session 2: March 15-28
Session 3: March 29-April 11
Session 4: April 12-April 25
Session 5: April 26-May 9
Session 6: Oct 18-Oct 31
Session 7: Nov 1-Nov 14
Session 8: Nov 29-Dec 12
mesarefuge.org/residencies/application/
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual works
Entre Magazine
DEADLINE: December 4, 2023
INFO: Entre is, primarily, a creative platform for queer Latina/o/x artists, but we are open to publishing works from all artists, regardless of background.
They currently seek submissions for its premiere issue, to tentatively debut in Spring 2024, including previously-unpublished creative fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and visual works that focus on the queer Latinx experience or any experiences that deal with hybridity, fluidity, and inbetweenness (be it race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexuality, etc.)
Submissions should be previously unpublished; please do not submit any works that have been previously published on personal blogs, social media, or in other magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks.
We will gladly accept simultaneous submissions. Please notify us if your work is accepted elsewhere and it will be withdrawn from the consideration process.
GUIDELINES: All submissions should include (aside from the work) an artist's bio (50-100 words) and a brief statement describing the artist's motivation behind the work--what is the intention of the work? What does the work represent?
Artists are free to submit multiple works in multiple categories, but please be advised that only one work in one genre will most likely be selected to encourage a diverse representation of artists.
FORMATTING: Written works must be submitted in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format. Fiction submissions should not exceed a maximum of 5,000 words. Poetry submissions should not exceed a maximum of 3 poems. Fiction submissions should be double-spaced, utilize a standard typeface and font size (12 pt), and have numbered pages. Poetry submissions can be single-spaced, but should still utilize a standard typeface and font size. If submitting more than one poem, please start each new poem on its own page.
Visual works must be submitted either as JPEGs (JPGs), PNGs, or any widely-accepted image format (up to 100 MB).
PUBLISHING:
All submissions are subjected to an editing process. If selected for publication, artists will always have the final say as to how their submissions will appear in Entre.
By submitting to Entre, artists agree to be published digitally (online) in Entre Magazine. Artists also agree to be potentially promoted on Entre's social media platforms (as they are launched). Social media handles may be included (if provided during the submission process).
After first publication in Entre Magazine, artists will retain all rights to their work.
Entre does not provide monetary compensation for publications at this time.