Best Poetry Writing Contests in 2026

Genres: Poetry

The 'I Matter' Contest invites students in grades K-12 to submit original poetry or art focused on the theme of equality. It was founded to empower youth to express their feelings on racial injustice through creative means.

Genres: Poetry

The Indiana Review Poetry Prize is part of an annual contest that awards a prize for excellent poetry submissions. The contest is open to submissions of poetry, and winners receive publication along with a monetary honorarium.

Genres: Poetry

The Diode Editions Chapbook Contest is an annual competition open to English-language poets. Multiple publications may be selected during this contest.

Genres: Fiction and Poetry

The Hudson Prize is awarded annually for an unpublished collection of poems or prose. It is open to new, emerging, and established writers. The winner receives book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book.

Genres: Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

The Flying South contest invites submissions in three categories: Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry. Each entry should be original and previously unpublished. Winners are awarded cash prizes, and all finalists are published in the annual issue.

Genres: Poetry

This series highlights first full-length collections by emerging authors from southern U.S. states. Submissions are open annually from December 1 to March 1.

Genres: Poetry

The Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Competition is an annual prize open to original, unpublished poems in English of up to 40 lines. It celebrates poetry and offers substantial prizes while encouraging international participation.

Genres: Script Writing, Fiction, and Poetry

Participants are invited to write about a scar, real or fictional, in any format (story, song, script, poem) with a limit of 250 words. The contest encourages creativity and personal expression.

Genres: Poetry

The Interwoven project celebrates identity and community through poetry, aiming to highlight what unites humanity. It invites poems that reflect on shared experiences across cultures and places.

Genres: Poetry

The Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award is one of the most prestigious poetry awards, providing significant financial support to poets. It offers a $100,000 prize for a single poetry collection published within the eligibility year, aimed at supporting mid-career poets. The award encourages poets to continue developing their craft.

Genres: Non-fiction and Poetry

The Geminga Contest 2026 invites submissions for Tiny Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Graphic Novels, and Art. The contest emphasizes the power of brevity, allowing a maximum of 100 words for fiction and nonfiction. Micropoetry is limited to 140 characters. Selected works will be published in Sunspot Lit's digital and print editions.

Genres: Poetry

The prize is for a first book of poetry by a U.S. poet age 70 or older who has not published a full-length collection. It aims to celebrate the creative imagination of older writers.

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The Jade Ring Contest is a prestigious annual competition celebrating exceptional writing in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Now in its 76th year, this contest offers writers a chance to shine, with cash prizes, publication opportunities in Creative Wisconsin Magazine, and a coveted residency at Write On, Door County for first-place winners.

Genres: Essay, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

The Bacopa Literary Review is an annual international print journal seeking engaging and original submissions across multiple genres. The contest includes various categories with specific guidelines to encourage diverse forms of writing.

Genres: Poetry

The Dream Quest One Poetry Contest is an international competition aimed at encouraging writers and poets to showcase their original works. The contest is open to all, regardless of experience, and accepts entries in various styles and themes. The mission is to inspire creativity and support literary talents.

Genres: Poetry

The competition theme is 'Play'. It is open for entries from 1st to 30th November 2025. Entrants must be aged 60 or over. Multiple poems are allowed, with a maximum of 30 lines for each poem.

Genres: Poetry

This is the inaugural Chapbook Contest inviting poets and prose writers to submit works celebrating Appalachia. Submissions must embody Appalachian themes and can include previously published works. The contest offers a $200 prize, publication of the winning chapbook, author copies, and a digital e-book.

Genres: Poetry

The Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry is an annual contest honoring the poet Robinson Jeffers. Established as a living memorial, it aims to recognize outstanding poetry submissions. The prize includes an honorarium and honorable mentions.

Genres: Poetry and Memoir

This contest is for full-length poetry chapbooks (50-150 pages) celebrating a BIPOC or underrepresented poet. It seeks a thematic collection that captures a personal journey or season of life.

Genres: Poetry

The competition runs for 42 weeks from April 9, 2024, to January 28, 2025. Each week, five words will be provided for poem submissions, which must incorporate all the words.

Genres: Poetry

Established in 1975, this prize recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the U.S. in the previous calendar year. It includes a $25,000 award, a residency at Glen Hollow, and distribution of the winning book to Academy members.

Genres: Poetry

Established in 1998, this award honors poet Benjamin Saltman and is for previously unpublished original poetry collections. The competition is open to all poets.

Genres: LGBTQ, Fiction, and Poetry

The award recognizes LGBTQ-identified writers demonstrating strong potential for promising careers. It includes a cash prize of $1,500 and is awarded annually to two writers.

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Thriller

The contest awarded prizes for both prose and poetry categories, with multiple winners for each.

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

The 20th Elmbridge Literary Competition invites submissions of short stories and poems on the theme of 'The River' to commemorate RC Sherriff. Open internationally, the competition includes age categories with specific word counts.

Genres: Poetry

The Plaza Poetry Prize (60 lines) is an international competition with the aim of discovering, publishing, and promoting talented new writers. Judged by Pulitzer Prize-winner Natalie Diaz, it offers cash prizes and publication opportunities for shortlisted entries.

Genres: Poetry

The Happiful Poetry Prize is an annual competition that invites entries exploring themes of mental health and wellbeing. The contest is open to writers aged 18 and over from the UK and Northern Ireland. The competition aims to celebrate high-quality writing in poetry.

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The contest is open to writers over 18 worldwide and includes categories for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Each submission must adhere to specific formatting guidelines and word limits. Winners are selected through blind judging, and results are announced during the festival.

Genres: Poetry

The Heroica Poetry Prize is a competition aimed at women and non-binary authors and poets, offering monetary rewards and publication in an anthology.

Genres: Poetry

The Plough Prize is an international poetry competition open for poems in English, limited to 40 lines on any subject. The contest emphasizes anonymity in judging, with a focus on quality.

Genres: Poetry

The Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize is awarded annually for a poet's first full-length book of poetry. The prize includes $2,500 and publication by Kent State University Press. The winner will also participate in a reading at Kent State with the judge.

Genres: Poetry

The Fish Poetry Prize is an open competition judged by Billy Collins, offering significant monetary prizes and publication opportunities in the Fish Anthology 2025. It has been established since 2006, focusing on poems of any theme, restricted to 60 lines.

Genres: Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Poetry, Children's, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

The North Street Book Prize focuses on self-published or hybrid-published books, offering significant cash prizes and marketing services to enhance visibility. The contest has been running for 11 years and encourages entries across various genres.

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

The Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing Prize celebrates emerging voices in life writing, poetry, and fiction. It supports writers who have not published book-length works and offers a platform for diverse backgrounds. Winners receive a £1,000 cash prize and publication in Wasafiri.

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, Poetry, and Short Story

The Solar Flare Contest seeks submissions for a single short story, novel or novella excerpt, artwork, graphic novel, or poem that exhibits a burst of creative energy. All genres accepted, with a maximum word limit of 500 for stories and nonfiction, 12 lines for poetry, and 8 pages for graphic novels.