The Best Poetry Writing Contests of 2023
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
Writing competitions curated by Reedsy
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Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The Big Moose Prize for an unpublished novel.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.
$1,000
Publication, 10 copies of your book
💰 Fee: $27
Deadline: January 31, 2023 (Expired)
Fiction, Novel, Poetry, Short Story
View contestThird 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 We will accept contest entries of up to 3 previously unpublished poems of any style and subject matter.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.
$100
print copy of the 3rd Wednesday contest issue
💰 Fee: $6
Deadline: February 15, 2023
Poetry
View contestTrio House Press
The Trio Award for First or Second Book includes $1,000, publication, and twenty books. The Trio Award for First or Second Book is only open to poets with less than two books published.
$1,000
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: April 30, 2023
Poetry
View contestTrio 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.
$1,000
Publication
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: April 30, 2023
Poetry
View contestBridport 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.
£5000
£1000 for 2nd, £500 for 3rd
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: May 31, 2023
Poetry
View contestWriter'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]
$5,000
2nd: $500 | 3rd: $100
💰 Fee: $30
Deadline: May 05, 2023
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestcrazyhorse
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.
$2,000
Publication
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: January 31, 2023 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestAcademy 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.
$50,000
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: February 17, 2023
Poetry
View contestAssociation 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.
$500 scholarship
one-year membership
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Fiction, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Short Story
View contestAesthetica
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.
$3,068
Publication + Membership + Course
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: September 08, 2023
Poetry
View contestNorthwestern 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).
$150 CAD
Publication in NOWW magazine
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: February 28, 2023
Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult
View contestSunspot 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.
$200
Publication
💰 Fee: $9
Deadline: December 19, 2022 (Expired)
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
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.
$1,080
$540 for each category winner | $118 for commended entries
💰 Fee: $4
Deadline: February 28, 2023
Fiction, Flash Fiction, Poetry, Script Writing, Short Story
View contestAlex 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.
$118
2nd: $60 | 3rd: $30
💰 Fee: $3
Deadline: April 30, 2023
Poetry
View contestFanStory.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.
$100
Winning poems will be featured on the FanStory.com welcome page.
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: July 11, 2023
Poetry
View contestFanStory.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.
$100
Winning poems will be featured on the FanStory.com welcome page.
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: July 07, 2023
Poetry
View contestNervous 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).
$1,000
Publication and a Californian reading tour
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Humor, Young Adult
View contestAcademy 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.
$1,000
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: February 15, 2023
Poetry
View contestAcademy 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.
$1,000
Publication by Bilingual Press
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: February 15, 2023
Poetry
View contestF(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.
$300
Considered for publication in F(r)iction
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: November 01, 2022 (Expired)
Poetry
View contestMunster 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.
$2,000
2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250 | 10x runner-ups: $50
💰 Fee: $7
Deadline: November 30, 2022 (Expired)
Poetry
View contestThe 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.
$750
Publication
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: December 15, 2022 (Expired)
Poetry
View contestThe 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.
$5,645
2nd: $2570 | 3rd: $1128
💰 Fee: $8
Deadline: October 31, 2022 (Expired)
Poetry
View contestDream Quest One
Write a poem, 30 lines or fewer on any subject, style, or form, typed or neatly hand printed.
$250
2nd: $125 | 3rd: $50
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: March 19, 2023
Poetry
View contestShepton 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.
$260
💰 Fee: $5
Deadline: January 08, 2023 (Expired)
Poetry, Romance
View contestFanStory.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.
$100
💰 Fee: $10
Deadline: June 14, 2023
Poetry
View contestPoetry 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.
$1,000
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: December 01, 2022 (Expired)
Poetry
View contestFive 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.
$1,000
Publication in Five Points magazine
💰 Fee: $25
Deadline: December 01, 2022 (Expired)
Poetry
View contestSo 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.
$500
Publication for winner and runner-up
💰 Fee: $9
Deadline: November 14, 2022 (Expired)
Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Short Story
View contestLazuli 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.
$500
Publication in "AZURE: A Journal of Literary Thought"
💰 Fee: $15
Deadline: February 22, 2023
Essay, Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Novella, Script Writing
View contestBlack 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.
$500
Publication by Black Lawrence Press
💰 Fee: $17
Deadline: October 31, 2022 (Expired)
Poetry, Short Story, Fiction
View contestCleveland 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.
$10,000
💰 Fee: $0
Deadline: December 31, 2022 (Expired)
Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry
View contestHidden 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.
$1,000
Publication in Hidden River Press
💰 Fee: $20
Deadline: February 21, 2023
Poetry
View contestFish 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
€1000
2nd: writer's retreat | 3rd: €300
💰 Fee: $14
Deadline: March 31, 2023
Poetry
View contestLevel 4 Press
Prayer can lead us on a very difficult journey, but a journey that turns out to be exactly the path we needed to be on in order to arrive where God wants us to be. The most inspiring souls are those who have overcome painful journeys with renewed faith. Often it is at our lowest when we find God. Now let's hear your story. How has God worked in mysterious ways in your life?
Poem recorded as a professional song by Gilad Hesseg
💰 Fee: FREE
Deadline: November 28, 2022 (Expired)
Poetry
View contest