Winter: Time to Sit by the Fire and Prepare Your Manuscript

For poets who are spending the long winter evenings reading, revising and combining their poems into collections, here’s an updated list of upcoming contest entry deadlines:

• Perugia Press Prize for a first or second book by a woman (postmark deadline November 15)
• Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award (postmark deadline November 15)
• Yale Series of Younger Poets Award (postmark deadline November 15
• Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Awards (postmark deadline November 16)
• Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet Competition (postmark/online entry deadline November 29)
• The Motherwell Prize for a first or second book by a woman from Fence Books (postmark deadline November 30)
• A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize from BOA Editions, Ltd. (postmark deadline November 30)
• Bright Hill Press Poetry Book Competition (postmark deadline November 30)
• The Motherwell Prize from Fence Books (postmark deadline November 30)
• The Plough Prize Poetry Competition (postmark/email deadline November 30)
• Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers from Kenyon Review (online submissions only, deadline November 30)
• The Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize from Waywiser Press (postmark deadline December 1)
• Beatrice Hawley Award from Alice James Books (postmark deadline December 1)
• Missouri Review Audio & Video Competition (postmark deadline December 1)
• Meridian Editor’s Prize in Poetry from the University of Virginia (online submission only, deadline December 15)
• Gival Press Poetry Award (postmark deadline December 15)
• The Dorset Prize from Tupelo Press (postmark or online submission deadline December 31)
• Pavement Saw Press Chapbook Contest (postmark or online submission deadline December 31)
• The Colorado Prize for Poetry from Colorado State University’s Center for Literary Publishing (postmark deadline January 14)
• Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize from Letras Latinas at the University of Notre Dame (postmark deadline January 15)
• John Ciardi Prize for Poetry from BkMk Press at the University of Missouri Kansas City (postmark deadline January 15)
• Grayson Books Chapbook Contest (postmark deadline January 16)
• Cleveland State University Poetry Center Prizes, First Book competition and Open Competition (postmark deadline February 15)
• Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry from Sarabande Books (postmark deadline February 15)
• New Women’s Voices Chapbook Competition from Finishing Line Press (postmark deadline February 15)
• National Poetry Series (postmark deadline February 16)
• Robert E. Lee Wilson & Ruth I. Wilson Poetry Book Award from Margie Review (postmark deadline February 27)
• Fence Modern Poets Series (postmark deadline February 28)
• The American Poetry Journal Book Prize from Dream Horse Press (postmark deadline February 29)

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