Deadlines for October: Manuscripts
We’ve got to be thankful to live in a world which offers so many opportunities for poets to get their work out there. Here are nine presses to submit your poetry manuscripts to this month.
Deadline: 10/7
The Wheeler Poetry Prize from The Journal
The Journal is partnering with Mad Creek Books to find a manuscript worth the Charles B. Wheeler Prize: $2500 and a standard book contract. Send them at least 48 pages of poetry, with no identifying info in the manuscript itself. Marcus Jackson is judging this year.
Reading Fee: $28
Deadline: 10/15
Miller Williams Poetry Prize from University of Arkansas Press
Billy Collins is the judge for this series. In honor of Miller Williams, UA Press wants 60-90 pages of your poetry that shows “an awareness of its reader, poetry that was plain spoken but also dealt with the most essential experiences of being human.” The prize for this one is a whopping $5000.
Reading Fee: $28
Deadline: 10/16
Jake Adam York Prize for a First or Second Collection of Poetry from Copper Nickel
Copper Nickel and Milkweed Editions are collaborating for this year’s Jake Adam York Prize. Copper Nickel will help select the winner, with Mark Doty as judge, and Milkweed will publish. The winning manuscript, from an emerging poet, will be awarded $2000 and publication.
Reading Fee: $25
Deadline: 10/31
Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry
The VM Prize from The University of North Texas is entering it’s 25th year. Send them 50-80 pages and make sure you read up on the guidelines for formatting. A judge will be announced soon. Winner receives $1000 and publication.
Reading Fee: $25
Deadline: 10/31
Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry
This prize, a collaboration between Persea Books and the Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Project, will award a female poet for her very first collection. The winner will receive $1000, publication from Persea, and the option of an all-expenses-paid residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center, a renowned artists retreat housed in a fifteenth-century castle in Umbertide, Italy.
Reading Fee: $30
Deadline: 10/31
Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award
Marilyn Nelson is judging this year’s Saltman—in it’s 30th year now. They’re awarding one poet $3,000, a four-week PLAYA residency, and publication by Red Hen Press. Send them 48-96 pages.
Reading Fee: $25
Deadline: 10/31
Honickman First Book Prize from APR
APR’s yearly prize is one of the heaviest hitters for debut poets—this is your chance to get a publishing contract with Copper Canyon Press. The winning poet will receive $3000 and the opportunity read as a guest of the University of the Arts Visiting Writers Series in 2020. Sharon Olds is judging this year.
Reading Fee: $25
Deadline: 11/1
Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets
Graywold Press and the Academy of American Poets is offering $5000 to a debut poet for their manuscript. The winner also receives an all-expenses-paid six-week residency at the Civitella Ranieri Center in the Umbrian region of Italy. Send them your poetry.
Reading Fee: $35
Deadline: 11/1
The Alice James Award
Alice James Books consistently finds some of the best contemporary work out there—send them your manuscript for a chance to receive the $3000 prize and publication. The editors also reserve the option to publish any other selection they feel deserves it.
Reading Fee: $30