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).
July Poetry Contests In 2023
- Stephen Spender Prize 2023
The Stephen Spender Prize is the leading annual prize for poetry in translation, with categories for pupils, teachers and individual young people in the UK and Ireland, as well as an Open category for adults from all over the world. The rules are simple: translate into English any poem from any language – from French to Farsi, from Spanish to Somali—and win publication and cash prizes!
Deadline: July 14
- 2023 Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest
Helen Schaible was a poet, mother, teacher, classicist. The Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest was established in her memory in 1998 by the Poets Club of Chicago and funded by a gift from Helen's daughters Jane Edwards, Lucy Parker, and Katherine Martin, and her son, the late David Schaible.
First Prize: $50. Second Prize: $30. Third Prize: $20.
Three Honorable Mentions and three Special Merits will be named per category, ranked.
Contest Rules & Submission Period
Submission Period: June 1 – July 15, 2023. Free and open to all!
- The Black Voices in Children’s Literature: Writing Contest 2023
Us&Canada
The Black Voices in Children’s Literature: Writing Contest 2023 is sponsored by Strive Publishing and Free Spirit Publishing.
Open for submissions from June 19 to July 24, 2023.
First Place: $1,000 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, a tote bag from Free Spirit, and a meeting with Mary Taris, founder of Strive, and an editor from Free Spirit to discuss the winner’s project.
The winning submission will be seriously considered for publication by Free Spirit, cobranded with Strive; however, publication is not guaranteed.
Second Place: $500 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, and a tote bag from Free Spirit
Third Place: $250 cash prize, a T-shirt from Strive, and a tote bag from Free Spirit
- Winchester Poetry Prize 2023
First Prize: £1,000, 2nd Prize: £500, 3rd Prize: £250.
A prize is also available for the best poem written by a Hampshire-based poet.
Closing Date: 31 July 2023 (11:59pm)
- The 1729 Book Prize in Poetry 2023
In collaboration with The Ivy Bookshop, the 1729 Prize is an annual contest provided by Mason Jar Press. Free to enter, with a $1,000 award and guaranteed publication, the Prize seeks the finest unpublished manuscripts of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.
The 1729 Prize alternates yearly between Poetry and Prose. Our inaugural Prize in Poetry is currently being judged by Diane Zinna and our forthcoming Poetry Prize will be judged by Chen Chen. More details within
Deadline: July 31
August Poetry Contests In 2023
- The Granum Foundation Prize 2023
The Granum Foundation Prize will be awarded annually to help U.S.-based writers complete substantive literary works—such as poetry books, essay or short story collections, novels, and memoirs—or to help launch these works.
Additionally, the Granum Foundation Translation Prize will be awarded to support the completion of a work translated into English by a U.S.-based writer.
Funding from both prizes can be used to provide a writer with the tools, time, and freedom to help ensure their success. For example, resources may be used to cover basic needs, equipment purchases, mentorship, or editing services.
Prize: One winner will receive $1,500 or more
Deadline: August 1
- Lucky Jefferson Poetry & Prose Summer Contest 2023
Lucky Jefferson is currently accepting submission for its inaugural poetry and prose competition. Interested writers are to read further on the guidelines for submissions.
20 finalists will receive publication in Lucky Jefferson's digital 365 Collection.
Two finalists from that group (one poetry and one prose) will each receive $100, publication, and a swag box.
Deadline: August 1
- Palette Poetry's Chapbook Prize 2023
Poetry chapbook manuscripts of all styles are accepted with no specific theme or aesthetic preference in request.
The winner will receive $2,000 and Summer 2024 publication, which includes a free, downloadable digital chapbook on their website, fifty physical author copies to share and sell, and the option to enable drop-shipping sales at Amazon, Bookshop.org, and Barnes & Noble, earning 50% royalties on your chapbook.
Additionally, thousands of readers, editors, and journals will receive chapbook access through our newsletter.
The winner will have creative agency over cover art/design, and also be offered the opportunity to work with Palette editors to revise the manuscript.
According to the Palette Poetry, there is an extended editorial process for any book that they believe in, so please feel welcome to submit promising work that may not be fully polished yet.
Deadline: August 20
- The Waterford Poetry Prize 2023
The Waterford Poetry Prize is open to all writers currently living on the island of Ireland. Please see eligibility for details. Waterford Poetry Prize has emerged from the influence of the late Waterford writer Seán Dunne whose poetry continues to inspire.
The winners of the Waterford Poetry Prize 2023 will be announced at the SpeakEasy event in Waterford city at the Waterford Writers Weekend on Friday 27th October 2023.
First prize is €400 plus attendance at a designated writing course at the Molly Keane Writers Retreat, Ardmore in 2024 (This prize valued €250 is non-transferable and no cash alternative will be awarded in lieu).
Second prize €300 plus attendance at a designated writing course at the Molly Keane Writers Retreat, Ardmore in 2024 (This prize valued €250 is non-transferable and no cash alternative will be awarded in lieu).
Third prize €200.
Deadline: August 21
- Aesthetica Creative Writing Award 2023
Aesthetica is looking for the best new writing talent. The £5,000 international literary prize is open to poetry and short fiction entries on any theme, celebrating innovation in content and form.
Deadline: August 31
September Poetry Contests In 2023
- The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts 2023
Lunch Ticket is honored to host The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts. The Gabo Prize is funded by writers, translators, and Antioch University Los Angeles MFA Alumni Allie Marini and Jennifer McCharen, who launched the prize to support the work of peer translators.
The winner, selected by a guest judge, will receive $200, and the winning piece will be published alongside two semi-finalists in the upcoming issue of Lunch Ticket. The Gabo Prize is awarded twice each year.
Deadline: September 1
- The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts 2023
Lunch Ticket is honored to host The Gabo Prize for Literature in Translation & Multilingual Texts. The Gabo Prize is funded by writers, translators, and Antioch University Los Angeles MFA Alumni Allie Marini and Jennifer McCharen, who launched the prize to support the work of peer translators.
The winner, selected by a guest judge, will receive $200, and the winning piece will be published alongside two semi-finalists in the upcoming issue of Lunch Ticket. The Gabo Prize is awarded twice each year.
Deadline: September 1
- The Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction, Issue 24
Lunch Ticket is honored to serve as the host for the Diana Woods Memorial Award in Creative Nonfiction 2023. The submission window for Lunch Ticket’s Issue 24 is August 1st to September 1st.
The winning submissions will be published in Lunch Ticket and the recipient will receive $250
- Frontier Poetry's Roots and Roads Prize 2023
Frontier Poetry is currently open for submission for its Root and Roads inaugural prize. Read further on the submission guidelines.
The submission is free for BIPOC writers. A total amount of $3000 will be awarded to the first place prize winner, $300 to second place, and $200 to third place.
About The Roots & Roads Prize
The organizers of the prize has the following to say about the prize:
"Not only are root systems vital for a tree to channel sustenance from the soil, but they are also communicators, connecting the plant to its environment and to other plants. Roads, too, are connectors, telling a story of movement and distances. This year, for our inaugural Roots & Roads Prize, Frontier Poetry invites you to imagine your poems as roots and roads, reaching both inward and outward.
We are in search of work that explores the tensions between these ideas, the relationships we have between origin and becoming, between our foundations and the possibilities that are sustained and/or troubled by them. We encourage you to interpret these words loosely and expansively, to let the poem take you where it wants. Bring us your ghosts, your maps, your homes, your alienations, your dreams of the future—lead us somewhere unexpected!"
Deadline: September 18
October Poetry Contests In 2023
- Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize 2023
$5,000 Fiction | $5,000 Nonfiction | $5,000 Poetry
Winners receive publication, promotion, and a cash prize.
Deadline: October 1
- The Peter Poetry Prize 2023
The Peter Porter Poetry Prize is one of Australia’s most lucrative and respected poetry awards. It honours the life and work of the great Australian poet Peter Porter (1929–2010), an honoured contributor to ABR for many years. All poets writing in English are eligible to enter.
First prize: AU$6,000
Four other shortlisted poets: AU$1,000
Deadline: October 9
- The National Poetry Competition 2023
The National Poetry Competition is now open for entries until 31 October 2023
Judges: Jane Draycott, Will Harris, Clare Pollard
Run by The Poetry Society since 1978, The National Poetry Competition is one of the world’s most prestigious prizes for an unpublished poem of up to 40 lines, open to all poets worldwide aged 18 or over
November Poetry Contests In 2023
December Poetry Contests In 2023
- The Sarah Maguire Poetry in Translation Prize 2023
The Sarah Maguire Poetry in Translation Prize is offered biennially for the best book of poetry in English translation by a living poet from beyond Europe, published anywhere in the world. £1,500 is awarded to the winning poet and £1,500 to the winning translator (or shared if there is more than one translator).
Deadline: December 31