The Best Poetry Writing Contests of 2022
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
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Showing 182 contests
Annual Cultural Heritage Writing Contest
The Trailblazer Review
Founded in November 2022, The Trailblazer Review is an international high school literary magazine dedicated to celebrating and honoring indigenous culture through creative writing. Its Annual Cultural Heritage Contest accepts submissions of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction under 4000 words from middle and high school students (13-18 years old) on the subject of native culture and heritage.
Top prize
Publication
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: February 20, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Script Writing, Short Story, Young Adult
View contestThe Big Moose Prize
Black Lawrence Press
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Big Moose Prize for an unpublished novel. The prize is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes will be awarded on publication. The Big Moose Prize is open to traditional novels as well as novels-in-stories, novels-in-poems, and other hybrid forms that contain within them the spirit of a novel.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication, 10 copies of your book
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $27
Deadline: January 31, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Novel, Poetry, Short Story
View contestAnnual Poetry Contest
Third Wednesday
Each year Third Wednesday awards 3 $100 prizes in its annual poetry contest. For this year's contest, entries will be accepted from November 1, 2020 through February 15, 2021. We will accept contest entries of up to 3 previously unpublished poems of any style and subject matter. There is no limit on length.
Top prize
$100
Additional prizes
print copy of the 3rd Wednesday contest issue
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $6
Deadline: February 15, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestLouise Bogan Award
Trio House Press
The Louise Bogan Award for Artistic Merit and Excellence includes $1,000, publication, and twenty books. The Louise Bogan Award for Artistic Merit and Excellence is open to ALL poets, regardless of publication history.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: April 30, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestBridport Poetry Prize
Bridport Arts Centre
You don't have to be Tennyson. Just talented. All we ask is that you please keep poems to 42 lines, max. You can, of course, write less. In addition to the prize money, the top three poems are automatically entered into the Forward Prize For Poetry’s best single poem competition, with the chance to win a further £1000. This exclusive award is not open to the public. You can write about absolutely anything but whatever your rhyme or reason, we want to read your poetry.
Top prize
£5000
Additional prizes
£1000 for 2nd, £500 for 3rd
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: May 31, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestWriter's Digest Annual Writing Competition
Writer's Digest
Enter our 91st Annual Writing Competition for the chance to have your work be seen by editors and agents! Almost 500 winners will be chosen. The top winning entries of this writing contest will also be on display in the Annual Writer’s Digest Competition Collection. [$20 for a poetry entry, $30 for a manuscript entry]
Top prize
$5,000
Additional prizes
2nd: $500 | 3rd: $100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $30
Deadline: May 05, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestswamp pink Prizes
crazyhorse
From January 1st to January 31st, submit short stories and essays of up to 25 pages or a set of 1-3 poems. Winners in each genre will receive $2,000 and publication.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
Publication
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: January 31, 2023
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestAcademy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowships are $50,000 awards given to honor poets of literary merit appointed to serve in civic positions and to enable them to undertake meaningful, impactful, and innovative projects that engage their fellow residents, including youth, with poetry, helping to address issues important to their communities.
Top prize
$50,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: February 17, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestThe Kurt Brown Prizes
Association of Writers & Writing Programs
AWP will offer three scholarships of $500 each to be awarded to three first-place winners in the genres of creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. These scholarships must be used to attend a writers’ conference, center, retreat, festival, or residency at one of the AWP member programs in the Directory of Conferences & Centers. All winners and six finalists will also receive a one-year individual membership.
Top prize
$500 scholarship
Additional prizes
one-year membership
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Short Story
View contestCreative Writing Award for Poetry
Aesthetica
The Aesthetica Creative Writing Award is a celebration of innovative new writing from across the globe. Each year, the competition invites submissions of poetry that redefine the parameters of form, concept and technique.
Top prize
$3,068
Additional prizes
Publication + Membership + Course
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: September 08, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestNOWW 25th International Writing Contest
Northwestern Ontario Writers Workshop (NOWW)
A Canadian contest with an international flair. As part of our 25th anniversary celebration, we have increased the prize total to $1800 over six major categories: poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, crime fiction, literary critical writing, and The Bill MacDonald prize for prose (A Northwestern Ontario setting must be central to the work).
Top prize
$150 CAD
Additional prizes
Publication in NOWW magazine
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: February 28, 2023
Genres
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestThe Goldilocks Zone
Sunspot Lit
Inspired by the search for Goldilocks Zone planets, Sunspot Lit is looking for one short story, CNF, artwork, poem, graphic novel, or script that combines excellence with appeal. Literary and genre works accepted; feedback available.
Top prize
$200
Additional prizes
Publication
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $9
Deadline: December 19, 2022
Genres
Crime, Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Script Writing, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestMinds Shine Bright Writing Competition
Minds Shine Bright
As we adjust to new realities, inflationary pressures, geo-political tensions, environmental challenges and more it’s time to imagine and explore. The Minds Shine Bright writing competition Confidence 2023 is open and calling for entries of short stories, short scripts, flash fiction and poetry which explore the theme of confidence in some way.
Top prize
$1,080
Additional prizes
$540 for each category winner | $118 for commended entries
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $4
Deadline: February 28, 2023
Genres
Fiction, Flash Fiction, Poetry, Script Writing, Short Story
View contestThe Anne Marie Gracie Memorial Poetry Competition
Alex Frew
The contest is a loving tribute to Anne Marie Gracie, who died of cancer. All profits from the competition will go to Ayrshire Cancer Support.
Top prize
$118
Additional prizes
2nd: $60 | 3rd: $30
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $3
Deadline: April 30, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contest2-4-2 Poetry Contest
FanStory.com Inc.
Share a 2-4-2. What's that? That's a poem with only three lines that has 8 syllables total! So the first line of your poem will have two syllables. The second line will have four. And the final line will have two again. Cash prize to the winner.
Top prize
$100
Additional prizes
Winning poems will be featured on the FanStory.com welcome page.
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: July 11, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestShare A Story In A Poem
FanStory.com Inc
Share a poem that rhymes and also tells a story. We included an example of this type of poem in the contest announcement. To the winner goes a cash prize.
Top prize
$100
Additional prizes
Winning poems will be featured on the FanStory.com welcome page.
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: July 07, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestThe Nervous Ghost Press Book Prize
Nervous Ghost Press
The 2021 Nervous Ghost Press Book Prizes are open to outstanding works of poetry and prose by anyone living in the United States of America. All work and all writers, from any point in their careers, are welcome to submit their work and get a chance of publication. Please submit a completed a manuscript (50,000-100,000 words for prose, 48-128 pages for poetry).
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication and a Californian reading tour
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Humor, Young Adult
View contestHarold Morton Landon Translation Award
Academy of American Poets
This $1,000 award recognizes a poetry collection translated from any language into English and published in the previous calendar year. Established in 1976, it is given annually. A noted translator chooses the winning book.
Top prize
$1,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: February 15, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestAmbroggio Prize
Academy of American Poets
The Ambroggio Prize is a $1,000 publication prize given for a book-length poetry manuscript originally written in Spanish and with an English translation. The winning manuscript is published by Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, publisher of literary works, scholarship, and art books by or about U.S. Hispanics.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication by Bilingual Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: February 15, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestF(r)iction Poetry Contest
F(r)iction
We seek work that actively pushes boundaries, that forces us to question traditions and tastes. If your work takes risks, we want to read it. You may submit up to three entries for $12. A single entry is $10. Each poem can be up to three pages.
Top prize
$300
Additional prizes
Considered for publication in F(r)iction
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: November 01, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestGregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition
Munster Literature Centre
The competition is open to original, unpublished and unbroadcast poems in the English language of 40 lines or fewer. The poem can be on any subject, in any style, by a writer of any nationality, living anywhere in the world.
Top prize
$2,000
Additional prizes
2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250 | 10x runner-ups: $50
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $7
Deadline: November 30, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestJoy Bale Boone Poetry Prize
The Heartland Review Press
Submit 1-3 poems of any form or style for $10 in a Word document through Submittable (link on website). Finalists (there's usually about 20) will receive a free copy of the Spring 2023 issue of The Heartland Review wherein winners and finalists will be published.
Top prize
$750
Additional prizes
Publication
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: December 15, 2022
Genres
Poetry
View contestThe National Poetry Competition
The Poetry Society
The Poetry Society's National Poetry Competition is now open for submissions and is looking for single unpublished poems from participants aged 18 or over from anywhere around the world.
Top prize
$5,645
Additional prizes
2nd: $2570 | 3rd: $1128
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $8
Deadline: October 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestDream Quest One Poetry
Dream Quest One
Write a poem, 30 lines or fewer on any subject, style, or form, typed or neatly hand printed.
Top prize
$250
Additional prizes
2nd: $125 | 3rd: $50
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: March 19, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestShepton Snowdrops Poetry Competition
Shepton Snowdrops Festival
The Shepton Snowdrop Festival is inviting poets, young and old, to pen a poem that reflects the power of nature, its reawakening, and the hope it brings. ‘Hope in nature’ is the theme for the 2022 Poetry Competition. During the short days and long evenings of winter, the green tips and delicate flowers of the snowdrop emerge to give hope and a sense of renewal.
Top prize
$260
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: January 08, 2023
Genres
Poetry, Romance
View contest20 Syllable Poem
FanStory.com Inc.
Write a poem using only 20 syllables. Write any type of poem. Any format. Any topic! Just keep the syllable count to 20.
Top prize
$100
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: June 14, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestC. P. Cavafy Poetry Prize
Poetry International
We are looking for chapbooks with consistently strong poems—poems that speak to one another lyrically and thematically. A review of the finalists and winners from recent competitions has revealed that the strongest chapbooks are typically the shortest; as a result, we have changed the page limit and invite you to send a gathering of your strongest work to be considered for Poetry International's Tiny Chapbook Competition.
Top prize
$1,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: December 01, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestJames Dickey Prize
Five Points
Since the publication of its inaugural issue in 1996, Five Points has become one of this country’s best literary magazines. To enter, send three previously unpublished poems no more than fifty lines each. The winner will receive $1000 and will be featured in an upcoming issue of Five Points. This contest is read blind.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Five Points magazine
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: December 01, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contestAnnual Contest Submissions
So to Speak Journal
So to Speak seeks work by writers who want to challenge and change the identity of the “canonical” writer. Our mission is to amplify voices of BIPOC, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ people, women, neurodivergent people, people of different religions or none, migrants, refugees & immigrants (regardless of citizenship), and incarcerated writers. Free submissions for Black and Indigenous Writers.
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Publication for winner and runner-up
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $9
Deadline: November 14, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestLazuli Literary Group Writing Contest
Lazuli Literary Group
We are not concerned with genre distinctions. Send us the best you have; we want only for it to be thoughtful, intelligent, and beautiful. We want art that grows in complexity upon each visitation; we enjoy ornate, cerebral, and voluptuous phrases executed with thematic intent.
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Publication in "AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought"
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: February 22, 2023
Genres
Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Novella, Script Writing
View contestBlack River Chapbook Competition
Black Lawrence Press
Twice each year Black Lawrence Press run the Black River Chapbook Competition for an unpublished chapbook of poems or prose between 16-36 pages in length. The contest is open to new, emerging, and established writers.
Top prize
$500
Additional prizes
Publication by Black Lawrence Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $17
Deadline: October 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry, Short Story, Fiction
View contestAnisfield-Wolf Book Awards
Cleveland Foundation
The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards recognizes outstanding works that contribute to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of cultural diversity. Awards are given for fiction, poetry and nonfiction.
Top prize
$10,000
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: December 31, 2022
Genres
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contestWillow Run Poetry Book Award
Hidden River Arts
Hidden River Arts offers a yearly prize of $1000 and publication in Hidden River Press, an imprint of Hidden River Publishing, for an unpublished book-length collection of poetry between 75 and 100 pages long.
Top prize
$1,000
Additional prizes
Publication in Hidden River Press
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: February 21, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestFish Poetry Prize
Fish Publishing
The top ten poems of the annual Fish Poetry Contest will be published in Fish Anthology. First prize winner will receive €1000 and the second prize winner will receive a week in residence at Anam Cara Writers ' Reatreat. 3rd: €300
Top prize
€1000
Additional prizes
2nd: writer's retreat | 3rd: €300
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $14
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Genres
Poetry
View contestThe Letter Review Prize for Poetry
Letter Review
Letter Review is offering $1100 USD total prize pool in the Letter Review Prize for Poetry for poems of not more than 70 lines. There are no subject or style restrictions. Twenty entries will be longlisted, and ten shortlisted. All entries are considered for publication.
Top prize
$1000 and publication
Additional prizes
2nd & 3rd: $50 and publication
Entry requirements
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: October 31, 2022 (Expired)
Genres
Poetry
View contest
