Best Poetry Writing Contests in 2026

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 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

The Marsh Hawk Press Poetry Prize invites submissions of poetry manuscripts. The prize includes cash awards and publication for the winner.

Genres: Poetry

Each entrant for their €24 entry fee will receive a complementary postage-free, one-year subscription to Southword. Poems will be read and judged anonymously. Poems must be previously unpublished. The winning poet will have their three poems published in Southword.

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 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: Poetry

The contest honors the legacy of Joy Bale Boone, an influential American poet and activist. All entries must be original works in English, with a submission window from July 1 to October 1, 2025, for publication in Spring 2026. The winners will be announced before Christmas 2025.

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Established in 1998, this award honors poet Benjamin Saltman and is for previously unpublished original poetry collections.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: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The Unleash WIP Award supports writers in completing significant literary projects, offering $500, editorial feedback, coaching, and a feature in Unleash Lit.

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

The Folly Short Story Prize 2025 invites submissions for stories that challenge conventional norms. It aims to recognize innovative writing that resonates with contemporary themes.

Genres: Poetry

The Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize highlights an exceptional chapbook each year, offering a $1,000 advance, publication, and 10 copies of the book. The contest aims to support poets and their work.

Genres: Poetry

One Page Poetry is dedicated to the art of expressing a poetic theme on a single page, whether your poem is four lines or forty, whether yours is a love poem, inspirational poem, philosophical poem, or just one that is fun or whimsical. We welcome any and all poetic forms, as long as they fit on a single page.

Genres: Fiction, Novel, Poetry, and Short Story

The Big Moose Prize awards an unpublished novel, open to all writers. The winner receives publication, a cash award of $1,000, and ten copies of the book.

Genres: Poetry

The Autumn House Poetry Contest accepts manuscripts of 50-80 pages. The winner receives publication of their manuscript, a $2,500 prize, and a $1,500 travel/publicity grant.

Genres: Poetry

The New Writers Poetry Competition offers a £1,200 top prize (with £1,800 total) and publication for the top six poems in its next New Writers Anthology. It is open globally to any English-language poet aged 18+. 10% of proceeds will be donated to charity. The head judge is writer, poet, & editor, JLM Morton.

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Short Story, and Novel

The Nimrod Literary Awards recognize outstanding writing in multiple genres. The contest is open to various forms of literature, offering recognition and opportunities for emerging writers.

Genres: Poetry

Every year, the University of Arkansas Press accepts submissions for the Miller Williams Poetry Series and from the books selected awards the $5,000 Miller Williams Poetry Prize in the following summer. For almost a quarter century the press has made this series the cornerstone of its work as a publisher of some of the country’s best new poetry. The series and prize are named for and operated to honor the cofounder and longtime director of the press, Miller Williams.

Genres: Poetry

The competition invites poets to submit works based on five given words each week over a 42-week period. It aims to encourage creativity and showcases poets' works in an anthology.

Genres: Poetry

The Hastings Book Festival Poetry Competition is an annual event inviting submissions from poets worldwide. The contest aims to celebrate new poetry and provides an opportunity for both established and emerging writers.

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

The Swamp Pink Prizes celebrate excellence in fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Each winner receives $2,000 and publication in an upcoming issue of Swamp Pink. The contest is open for submissions throughout January.

Genres: Children's and Poetry

The contest invites children to submit original art related to a camp theme. It emphasizes creativity and originality, encouraging participants to depict their ideal camping experiences.

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

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]

Genres: Poetry

The Fire & Ash Publishers Salon Competition is designed for local poets to showcase their works to industry professionals. Each month, four poets are selected to read their poetry at salon nights. An adjudication panel anonymously selects finalists based on submitted poems, and finalists receive a $50 CAD honorarium and an invitation to perform.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Poetry, and Science Fiction

The contest is open to English-language entries globally. It features categories for Florida Fiction, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Poetry, Prose Poetry, and Haiku, allowing multiple entries per category.

Genres: Fiction, Non-fiction, and Poetry

The GWG Literary Prize 2025 invites writers to explore hope and resilience through candid writing. Categories include fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry, all reflecting the theme of hope.

Genres: Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Science Fiction, Script Writing, Short Story, and Thriller

The Silver Falchion Award honors the best books in mystery, thriller, suspense, action, and romance genres published in the previous year. Entries for the 2026 competition are open now, with winners announced on August 22, 2026.

Genres: Poetry and Fiction

The Moth Nature Writing Prize 2026 is an international annual prize for unpublished pieces of nature writing. It is awarded to work that best combines exceptional literary merit with an exploration of the writer’s relationship with the natural world.

Genres: Poetry

The Jane Martin Poetry Prize is a national poetry competition established in 2010 in memory of Girton alumna Jane Elizabeth Martin. It aims to support young poets and promote literary excellence, judged by experts in the literary field.

Genres: Humor and Poetry

Now in its 25th year, this contest seeks today's best humor poems. It accepts both published and unpublished work with no entry fee. A total of $3,750 is available in prizes, and entries are judged anonymously.

Genres: Poetry

The Matter Poetry Contest invites poets to showcase their work. Winners are selected based on the emotional impact and creativity of their submissions. The contest aims to highlight the significance of poetry in personal and societal contexts.

Genres: Poetry

The Other Futures Award is an annual contest for innovative, adventurous full-length works that challenge genre and language conventions. It encourages submissions that imagine new lived or literary possibilities and question established paradigms.

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: Christian, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Travel

The New Deal Writing Competition invites writers to create a short story inspired by a specific painting. The current painting is 'Playtime' by Fred Ross. This is the ninth annual contest, intended to celebrate creativity and connect art and writing.