The Hermit Poet

Updated: As C. Dale Young kindly pointed out, with all the changes at the Paris Review, it might be best to skip the Paris Review / Zoo Press contest this year.

As my manuscript nears completion (hopefully), I’m on the look out for someplace to publish. As a Canadian, I’m excluded from certain first book contests, so I’ve decided to build a list of contests that are willing to look at work from a non-US citizen who currently resides in the US (eg. Canadian graduate student studying at an American university).

Note: When I’ve marked a judge as TBA, it usually means that the judge is well-known but will not be disclosed until after the judging is completed. Unknown refers to an unspecified judge (could be an editorial board or the publisher)

Here’s my list — hopefully it’s useful for someone else out there:

FIRST BOOKS

Sep 15
Northeastern University — Samuel Morse Poetry Prize
50-70 pages, $15 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Northeastern University Press
Judge: TBA
http://www.casdn.neu.edu/~english/publications/morse/

Sep 30
University of Massachusetts Press — Juniper Prize
50-70 pages, $20 fee
$1500 prize + publication by University of Massachusetts Press+reading
Judge: Unknown
http://www.umass.edu/umpress/juniper.html

Sep 30
Ohio State University Press — Journal Award
48+ pages, $25 fee (buys one year subscription to the Journal)
$3000 prize + publication by Ohio State University Press
Judge: Unknown
http://www.ohiostatepress.org/

Sep 30
Pleiades Press — Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Series Award
48+ pages, $15 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Pleiades Press (LSU Press)
Judge: Linda Bierds
http://www.cmsu.edu/englphil/pleiades/poetryseries.html

Sep 30
University of Wisconsin Press — Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes
50-80 pages, $25 fee
$1000 prize + publication by University of Wisconsin Press
Judge: Unknown
http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/poetryguide.html

Sep 30
Utah State University Press — May Swenson Poetry Award
50-100 pages, $25 fee (a No Winner decision is possible)
$1000 prize + publication by Utah State University Press
Judge: Edward Field
http://www.usu.edu/usupress/poetcomp.htm

Oct 15
Silverfish Review Press — Gerald Cable Book Award
48+ pages, $20 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Silverfish Review Press, 100 copies
Judge: Unknown
http://www.silverfishreviewpress.com/award.htm

Oct 31
Elixir Press — Poetry Awards
48+ pages, $25 fee
$2000 prize + publication by Elixir Press
Judge: TBA (editor judges 2nd prize)
http://www.elixirpress.com

Oct 31
Red Hen Press — Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award
48-96 pages, $20 fee
$3000 prize + publication by Red Hen Press
Judge: Alicia Ostriker and James Ragan
http://www.redhen.org

Oct 31
Story Line Press — Frederick Morgan Poetry Prize
48+ pages, $25 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Story Line Press
Judge: Unknown
http://www.storylinepress.com/projects/roerich.htm

Oct 31
Truman State University Press — T.S. Eliot Prize
60-100 pages, $25 fee
$2000 prize + publication by Truman State University Press
Judge: TBA
https://tsup.truman.edu/TSEliotPrize/guidelines.aspx

Oct 31
Zoo Press — Paris Review Prize (does this still exist?)
**With all the changes at Paris Review, you might want to skip this contest until things are stable**

Oct 31
Ohio University Press — Hollis Summers Poetry Contest
60-95 pages, $20 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Ohio University Press
Judge: TBA
http://www.ohiou.edu/oupress/poetryprize.htm

Sep 1 – Oct 31
Fordham University — Poets Out Loud Prize
50-80 pages, $25 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Fordham University Press
Judge: Alberto Rios
http://poetsoutloud.com/prize.html

Nov 8
Winnow Press — First Book Award in Poetry
50-100 pages, $20 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Winnow Press + 50 copies + 100 postcards + 100 bookmarks
Judge: Kathleen Peirce
http://www.winnowpress.com/firstpoetry.html

Oct 1 – Nov 15
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference — Bakeless Literary Publication Prizes
50+ pages, $10 fee
Publication by Houghton Mifflin + fellowship to attend Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference
Judge: Mark Doty
http://bakelessprize.org

Nov 15
University of North Texas Press — Vassar Miller Prize
50-80 pages, $20 fee
$1000 prize + publication by University of North Texas Press
Judge: TBA
http://web2.unt.edu/untpress/potential_authors.cfm#subvassar

Nov 15
Many Mountains Moving — Poetry Book Contest
50-100 pages, $25 fee (buys 2 issues of th e journal)
$750 prize + publication by Many Mountains Moving
Judge: TBA
http://www.mmminc.org/new_web_contests.htm

Oct 1 – Nov 16
Crab Orchard Series in Poetry — Open Award Competition
50-80 pages, $25 fee
$3500 prize + publication by Southern Illinois University Press
Judge: Leslie Adrienne Miller?
http://www.siu.edu/~crborchd/conpo.html

Nov 30
BOA Editions, Ltd. — A. Poulin Jr. Poetry Prize
48-100 pages, $22 fee
$1500 prize + publication by BOA Editions, Ltd.
Judge: Elizabeth Spires
http://www.boaeditions.org/submissions/A_Poulin_Prize.html

Nov 30
Bright Hill Press — Poetry Book Competition
48-65 pages, $20 fee
$1000 + publication by Bright Hill Press + 25 copies
Judge: Unknown
http://www.brighthillpress.org/pages/7/index.htm

Nov 1- Nov 30
Copper Canyon Press — Hayden Carruth Award
46-150 pages, $25 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Copper Canyon Press
Judge: Publisher
http://www.coppercanyonpress.org/400_opportunities/430_gettingpub/guidelines.cfm

Nov 30
New Issues — Poetry Prize
48+ pages, $15 fee
$2000 + publication by New Issues Press (Western Michigan University)
Judge: Barbara Hamby
http://www.wmich.edu/newissues/NewIssuesPoetryPrize.html

Nov 30
White Pine Press — Poetry Prize
60-80 pages, $20 fee
$1000 prize + publication by White Pine Press
Judge: TBA
http://www.whitepine.org/compt.htm

Dec 1
Tupelo Press — Dorset Prize
48-80 pages, $25 fee
$10,000 prize + publication by Tupelo Press (Consortium distribution)
Judge: Linda Gregerson
http://www.tupelopress.org

Dec 1
Alice James Books — Beatrice Hawley Award
50-70 pages, $25 fee
$2000 prize + publication by Alice James Books
Judge: Editorial board
http://www.alicejamesbooks.org//BH.html

Dec 15
Gival Press — Annual Gival Press Poetry Award
45+ pages, $20 fee
$1000 prize + publication by Gival Press + 20 copies
Judge: Paula Goldman (last year’s winner)
http://www.givalpress.com/

Dec 31
Tampa Review — Tampa Review Prize for Poetry
48-100 pages, $20 fee
$1000 prize + hard back publication by University of Tampa Press + selected poems featured in Tampa Review
Judge: Unknown
http://tampareview.ut.edu/tr_prize.html

Jan 15
Del Sol Press — Annual Del Sol Poetry Prize
50-100 pages, $22 fee
$1200 + publication by Del Sol Press + 20 copies
Judge: Mary Jo Bang
http://webdelsol.com/DelSolPress/dsp-poetry-competition.htm

Jan 16
BkMk Press — John Ciardi Prize for Poetry
50-110 pages, $25 fee
$1000 + publication by BkMk Press (University of Missouri – Kansas City)
Judge: TBA
http://web1.umkc.edu/bkmk/poetry.html

Oct 1 – Jan 17
Colorado Review — Colorado Prize for Poetry
40-100 pages, $25 fee
$1500 prize + publication by the Center for Literary Publication (Colorado State University)
Judge: Lyn Hejinian
http://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/CPP/sub.html