Miller Williams Poetry Prize 2022

University of Arkansas Press accepts submissions for the Miller Williams Poetry Series and from the books selected awards the $5,000 Miller Williams P

About The Miller Williams Poetry Prize 2022

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.

Series editor Patricia Smith serves as the judge for the Miller Williams Poetry Prize. With the help of screeners, she awards to three authors publication in the series. 

This is the most significant award the press can offer: the opportunity for the author’s work to be published with all the dedication and expertise we have to offer. We provide professional copyediting by expert poetry editors, design and production by veteran designers who specialize in the typesetting of verse, and production managed by a house with a history of printing first-rate books.

 We believe this offers the poet the best possible opportunity to connect with his or her audience in print. This prize goes to all three books selected for the series. 

Three of the books are announced as finalists for the Miller Williams Poetry Prize. One is further chosen as the winner of the prize and receives $5,000 in cash in addition to publication.

Entry Fee: $25

The submission deadline for the 2024 Miller Williams Poetry Prize is 30 Sep 2022.

Submission Requirements

Length. Manuscripts must be between sixty and ninety pages.

Previous publication. The manuscript must be previously unpublished. Individual poems may have been published in chapbooks, journals, and anthologies.

Translations. Work in translation is not accepted.

Associations with the editor. Friends, family, current students, and former students of the editor should refrain from submitting.

Multiple submissions. No more than one manuscript per author.

Authorship. No more than one author per manuscript.

Simultaneous submissions. Manuscripts under publication consideration or prize competition elsewhere are allowed provided we are notified immediately of their acceptance.

Authors previously published in the series. Any author who has had a manuscript published in the series should not apply again until three years after the publication date of said volume.

 

Application Instructions

Period. Applications are accepted year-round with a rolling deadline of 30 September.

Personal information. Applicants should provide their name, an address, a telephone number, and an email address.

Manuscript content. The first page of the manuscript should start with the title of the collection, followed by a table of contents, and then the poems. Part titles and epigraphs may be included. Dedications, acknowledgments, or any personal information should not be included.

Anonymity. Submissions are judged anonymously. Your name and contact info should be submitted on this submission page but nowhere in the uploaded file. Do not include any specific identifying information anywhere in the manuscript.

File formats. We recommend authors submit their manuscripts as a PDF, which offers the most reliable representation of what is seen on the writer’s computer. Microsoft Word documents (.doc) and Rich-Text Format documents (.rtf) are also acceptable but may display text and formatting differently when opened on the judge’s computer.

Revisions. No revisions will be accepted once the application is complete and the manuscript is uploaded.

Readers fee. A readers’ fee of $28 must be paid at the time of submission. Major credit cards and PayPal are accepted. No checks, transfers, or cash can be accepted.

Selection. The winner and the finalists will be notified by 15 July of the year preceding the year of the prize. (For example, the winner of the 2010 prize is announced in the summer of 2009.)

Apply