Poetry Deadlines: February & March
Every 15th of the month: new deadlines, new contests, and new opportunities for your voice to find the world. The next six weeks include: Frontier’s All Expense Paid Trip to Los Angeles for a 10 Day Residency, Persea’s Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award, Prairie Schooner’s Book Prize and more.
DEADLINE: 2/28
Featured: The Antioch-Frontier Fellowship Contest
For non-MFA poets only, this really unique contest will send the winner to Los Angeles to participate at Antioch University LA’s 10 day MFA residency, all expenses paid. If you’re a poet who’s thinking about getting an MFA, there’s no better opportunity than this to decide.
Reading Fee: $20
DEADLINE: 2/15
Milkweed’s Ballard Spahr Prize
Poets of the Midwest—Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or Michigan—submit your manuscripts here for a chance at the $10,000 prize.
Reading Fee: $0
DEADLINE: 2/15
Sarabande’s Kathryn A Morton Prize
Sarabande’s founders, Sarah Gorham and Jeffrey Skinner, will judge this year’s prize, awarding the winner: $2,000, publication of a full-length collection of poetry, a Sarabande Writing Residency, and a standard royalty contract.
Reading Fee: $28
DEADLINE: 2/15
Gigantic Sequins
A great journal with a great reputation—send 3-5 poems to be considered for their next issue.
Reading Fee: $0
DEADLINE: 2/15
Breadloaf Writers Conference
Breadloaf may be the best known writers conference around—and they’re highly selective about who gets to show up. Send them your best work.
Reading Fee: $20
DEADLINE: 2/28
Beloit Poetry Journal
Send BPJ up to 5 poems to be considered for their next issue.
Reading Fee: $0
DEADLINE: 2/28
Cold Mountain Review’s RT Smith Prize for Narrative Poetry
If you’ve got a narrative poem (ballads, dramatic monologues, linear narratives, lyric narratives, and other hybrids) with an ecological/eco-justice theme, this contest is perfect-timing. Winner receives $500 and publication.
Reading Fee: $12
DEADLINE: 3/1
Hunger Mountain’s Ruth Stone Poetry Prize
Guest Judge Natalie Diaz will select a winner to receive $1,000 and online publication. A runner-up will receive $100 and online publication. Send up to three unpublished poems.
Reading Fee: $20
DEADLINE: 3/1
Copper Nickel
Send 4-6 poems to be considered for the next issue of Copper Nickel.
Reading Fee: $0
DEADLINE: 3/1
Black Warrior Review
Submit up to 5 poems, no more than 10 pages, to be considered for publication in Black Warrior Review. They are “looking for poems that play with and interrogate genre, form, and language.”
Reading Fee: $3
DEADLINE: 3/1
Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast seeks submissions of up to 5 poems for its print edition.
Reading Fee: $3
DEADLINE: 3/7
Persea’s Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award
The award is open to American citizens living anywhere in the world who have previously published at least one full-length book of poetry (40+ pages). Winner receives publication from Persea, an advance of $1,000, and $1,000 toward readings. Past winners include Cameron Awkward-Rich, Heather Derr-Smith and Shane McCrae.
Reading Fee: $30
DEADLINE: 3/15
Prairie Schooner Book Prize Contest
Poetry manuscripts of 50 pages or more are eligible for the award of $3,000 and publication by University of Nebraska.
Reading Fee: $25
DEADLINE: 3/20
Sewanee Writers’ Conference
Submit a poetry manuscript of 10-15 pages (published or unpublished work) to be considered for this summer’s conference, featuring a poetry faculty that includes Robert Hass and Marilyn Nelson.
Reading Fee: $0
DEADLINE: 3/31
Cave Canem Poetry Prize
The prize is open to Black writers of African descent who have not had a full-length poetry collection published by a professional press. Winner to be selected by Final Judge Evie Shockley and screened by first readers Marwa Helal and Tyree Daye.
Reading Fee: $20