“Sumer Is Icumen In,” bringing a new round of poetry contest deadlines

Here’s a roundup of poetry contest deadlines coming up in the next few months — some are poetry book and chapbook publication competitions (for those of you who’ve been working on a manuscript, and choose to go this route to getting it published), others are single poem competitions, where the prize is publication in the sponsoring periodical.

• Marjorie J. Wilson Best Poem Contest from Margie Review (postmark deadline May 29)
• Field Poetry Prize from Oberlin College Press (postmark deadline May 31)
• Main Street Rag Chapbook Contest (email entry deadline was May 18, postmark deadline May 31)
• Lois Cranston Memorial Poetry Prize from Calyx (postmark deadline May 31)
• The Bordighera Poetry Prize for Italian American poets (postmark deadline May 31)
• War Poetry Contest from Winningwriters.com (postmark/online submission deadline May 31)
• Many Mountains Moving Poetry Book Contest (postmark deadline June 1)
• Boston Review Poetry Contest (postmark deadline June 1)
• Best New Poets Open Competition from the University of Virginia (online entries accepted April 15 - June 1)
• Barrow Street Press Book Contest (postmark deadline June 30)
• Crab Orchard Series First Book Award from Southern Illinois University (postmark deadline July 1)
• Green Poems contest from Poetry Daily and the Virginia Arts of the Book Center (postmark deadline July 1)
• Camber Press Poetry Chapbook Award (postmark deadline August 15)
• Pavement Saw Press Transcontinental Poetry Award (postmark deadline August 15)
• The Laureate Prize for Poetry from The National Poetry Review (postmark deadline August 31)

Required reading before you submit to any contests:
“What's Really Wrong with Poetry Book Contests?,” by David Alpaugh
How to put together a poetry manuscript for publication
“A Word To the Wise: On entering your poems in competition,” by Kurt Heintz
“You Do It Because You Love It,” by S.A. Griffin

Related resources:
More contest links