Submit to these free poetry contests 2023 with cash prizes. These best poetry competitions are for writers who have interest in poetry awards
Poetry Contests In 2023 List
This blogpost, poetry contests in 2023comprises a list of poetry competitions that are available in 2023. In respect of this, and in order to bring to you opportunities that could help to advance your writing career, we decided to collate this list of poetry competitions in 2022 for the resident of all countries, irrespective of geographical locations.
The competitions under the poetry contests in 2023 features all available poetry competitions we have access to. The list will be updated until the end of the year 2023.
Also, it contains some free poetry contests, as well as paid. To discern them, you can read further on them.
Before proceeding to enter any of the competitions in the poetry competitions in 2023, we'll require you to go through some of these tips as they might help you get more insight and clarification as to what is required of you while submitting for these competitions.
Things To Consider While Submitting To Poetry Contests In 2023
- Check the eligibility requirements. Requirements in respect of age, publication, education qualification are something to make sure of. Failure to meet any of the requirements may lead to error in submission.
- Check if there's any limitations in respect of countries.
- Check the deadline. This is very essential.
- Submission Guidelines. This very common in poetry competitions and as such requires proper attention.
Benefits Of Submitting To Poetry Contests In 2023
Submitting to any of the competitions in this list will guarantee you one or more of the following:
- Cash Prizes
- Publication
- Recognition in literary events
- Scholarships and Mentorship among many others.
Enjoy Poetry Contests In 2023!
Poetry Contests In 2023
These poetry contests are organized according to the days and months of deadlines.
January Poetry Contests In 2023
- Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry 2023
The Ballard Spahr Prize for Poetry supports outstanding poets from the upper Midwest and brings their work to a national stage. Expanding on the Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry, which was established in 2011, this prize awards $10,000 and publication by Milkweed Editions to a poet residing in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, or Michigan. Selected from a small number of finalists by an independent judge, the prizewinning poet will also receive a standard royalty contract, national distribution, and a comprehensive marketing and publicity campaign.
A public book launch and celebration for the winning poet will be held in Minneapolis around publication.
Submissions Open: December 1–January 15
Finalists & Winner Announced: April
Publication: January
- Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award 2023
We are now accepting submissions for the Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award. The winning poet will receive $500 and publication in the Spring 2023 issue of Fourteen Hills. There is no submission fee. Poems not chosen for the award will be considered for publication in Fourteen Hills.
About Stacy Doris
Stacy Doris was a poet, translator, and an Associate Professor in San Francisco State University's Department of Creative Writing, where she taught for ten years. Her poetry is widely recognized; Fledge: A Phenomenology of Spirit, published shortly after her death, is available from Nightboat Books. Poet Maxine Chernoff has referred to it as “a miracle of attentiveness.”
She was also highly regarded for her writing in French and her contribution to interactions among contemporary French and American poetry and poets.
Doris created new worlds with her unexpected poetics. Following upon her spirit of creative invention, engaging wit and ingenious playfulness, discovery in construction, and radical appropriations based on classical forms, pastiche, etc., and love, the Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award is given to a poet with a truly inventive spirit.
Deadline: January 15, 2023
- RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers 2023
Established in memory of writer Bronwen Wallace, this award has a proven track record of helping talented developing authors get their first book deal. Two $10,000 prizes will be given for outstanding works of unpublished poetry and short fiction.
The RBC Bronwen Wallace Award is sponsored by RBC Emerging Artists. The initiative supports organizations that provide the best opportunity for artists to advance in their projected career paths. Providing key funding across artistic genres, RBC contributes to the positive, sustained impact of the arts in building strong, diverse, and vibrant communities. Since 2015, more than 28,000 artists have been supported through these programs.
Genre: Poetry and Short Story
Winner: $10,000; Finalists: $2,500
Deadline: January 16, 2023
- Zocalo Poetry Prize 2023
Since 2012, the Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize has recognized the U.S. writer of a poem that best evokes a connection to place. Zócalo is currently accepting submissions. The deadline for entries is January 23, 2023 at 11:59 PM PST. There is no fee required to enter the contest.
According to the organizers of the Zocalo literary prize:
Since 2012, the Zócalo Public Square Poetry Prize has recognized the U.S. writer of a poem that best evokes a connection to place. Zócalo is currently accepting submissions. The deadline for entries is January 23, 2023 at 11:59 PM PST. There is no fee required to enter the contest.We are on the lookout for that rare combination of creativity and clarity, excellence and evocation. The prize interprets “place” in many ways: A location may possess historical, cultural, political, or personal importance, and may be literal, imaginary, or metaphorical.Our 12th annual winner will be selected by the Zócalo staff, working in conjunction with a poetry prize selection committee. The winner will receive $1,000 and will have the opportunity to deliver their poem at the Zócalo Book Prize event in the spring. Zócalo will also publish the poem on our site alongside an interview with the poet. In addition, we plan to recognize our honorable mention submissions.
Entries will be judged based on originality of ideas, theme, and style. Judging is at the sole discretion of Zócalo Public Square and our poetry prize committee.
The winner will be announced in spring 2023, and the winning poet will receive $1,000, a published interview, and an opportunity for a public reading hosted by Zócalo.
The winning poem will be published on zocalopublicsquare.org. They will also be celebrating our honorable mention submissions
Deadline: January 23, 2023.
February Poetry Contests In 2023
- Deep Wild 2023 Graduate Student Poetry Contest
Grad students, send us your three best poems that are backcountry infused and inspired, and that together add up to no more than 100 lines. There are no fees to submit, and the top three winners will receive cash awards.
The winners will receive: The 1st Place prize is $300, 2nd Place $200, and 3rd Place $100.
The editors of Deep Wild: Writing from the Backcountry invite students currently enrolled in graduate studies to submit work for our 2023 Graduate Student Poetry Contest.
Timeline For Submission: Submissions will be accepted from November 1 through February 1 2023
- Center For African American Poetry and Poetics Book Prize 2023
Founded in 2020, the CAAPP Book Prize is a publishing partnership between the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for African American Poetry and Poetics and Autumn House Press with the goal of publishing and promoting a writer of African descent. The prize is awarded annually to a first or second book by a writer of African descent and is open to the full range of writers embodying African and African diasporic experiences.
The book can be of any genre that is, or intersects with, poetry, including poetry, hybrid work, speculative prose, and/or translation. The winning manuscript will be published by Autumn House Press and its author will be awarded $3,000.
Deadline: February 15, 2023
- Academy of American Poets Ambroggio Prize 2023
The Ambroggio Prize 2023 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 the University of Arizona Press, which is nationally recognized for its commitment to publishing the award-winning works of emerging and established voices in Latinx and Indigenous literature, as well as groundbreaking scholarship in Latinx and Indigenous studies.
Established in 2017, the Ambroggio Prize is the only annual award of its kind in the United States that honors American poets whose first language is Spanish.
Deadline: February 15
- Christopher Tower Poetry Competition 2023
The 23rd Christopher Tower Poetry Competition opened for entries on 10 October 2022, with students between 16-18 years of age challenged to write a poem on the theme 'The Planets.'
The competition will close at 12 noon on 24 February 2023.
About the Competition
The Tower Poetry Competition 2023 offers the UK’s most valuable prize for young poets. The competition is free to enter and it is open to students between 16-18 years of age who are educated in the UK.
The competition is judged anonymously by two guest judges, who are different each year, and the Christopher Tower Student. Each year the theme is chosen with the intention of giving entrants free rein to interpret it as widely as they like.
This year the Christopher Tower Poetry Prizes are blasting off to new heights with a newly increased first prize and a full set of awards worth more than £14000.
The poet who writes the best single poem on the theme of ‘The Planets’ receives £5000.
There will be a second prize of £3000, and a third prize of £1500. Along with these, there will be ten runners up, who will each receive £500
- James Welch Prize 2023
Poetry Northwest’s James Welch Prize 2023 is awarded for two outstanding poems, each written by an Indigenous U.S. poet. The prize is named for Blackfeet and Gros Ventre writer James Welch, whose early poems were featured in Poetry Northwest and who went on to become one of the region’s most important writers.
The prize is open to emerging poets who are community-recognized members of tribal nations within the United States and its trust territories (including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Chamorros, and American Samoans).
Only poets who have not published more than one book-length literary work in any genre are eligible; however, previous publication is not a requirement.
Eligible contestants must be community-recognized members of their tribal nation. Formal tribal enrollment is not the only way of acknowledging belonging, and this prize aims to recognize all Native writers who are in community.
Previous first place winners of this prize are not eligible, but previous finalists are welcome to submit work.
Deadline: February 28
- Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA) Self-Publishing Literary Awards 2023
Black Caucus of ALA (BCALA) Self-Publishing Literary Awards 2023. Through this contest, the BCALA honors the best self-published eBooks by an African American author in the U.S. in both fiction and poetry genres.
These awards acknowledge outstanding achievement in the presentation of the cultural, historical and sociopolitical aspects of the Black Diaspora. The purpose is to encourage the artistic expression of the African American experience via literature and scholarly research including biographical, historical, and social history treatments by African Americans. The judging committee will be comprised of a BCALA-appointed panel, which will select one winner in each genre.
Each genre prize winner shall receive: $2,500.00, formal recognition at the Black Caucus of ALA Literary Awards, and a BCALA Literary Award Seal to use in their marketing.
Deadline: February 28
March Poetry Contests In 2023
- The Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards 2023
The Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards 2023 recognize outstanding translations into English of modern Italian poetry through a $10,000 book prize and a $25,000 fellowship, given in alternating years.
The Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Awards Fund was established in 1995 through a bequest to The New York Community Trust by Sonia Raiziss Giop, a poet, translator, and long-time editor of Chelsea. The Trust has selected the Academy to administer the award.
The Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship will be given in 2023 to enable an American translator to travel, study, or otherwise advance a significant work-in-progress. The Academy invites applications from American translators currently engaged in the translation of twentieth-century Italian poetry. The winning translator will receive an award of $25,000 and a five-week residency at the American Academy in Rome.
The judges for the 2023 Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship are Graziella Sidoli, Jennifer Scappettone and John Taylor. Submissions are accepted from September 30, 2022, to March 1, 2023 (11:59 p.m. ET).