The Frontier Poetry Hurt and Healing Prize 2026 is currently open for submission. The organisers invite poets their journeys through the entanglement.

Frontier Poetry Hurt and Healing Prize 2026

The Frontier Poetry Hurt and Healing Prize 2026 is currently open for submission. The organisers invite poets their journeys through the entanglement of pain and restoration. Frontier Poetry seeks poems that explore grief, loss, heartache, and the imperfect path taken to reach the ongoing work of healing.

Also Read: Writing Competitions in 2026 (Open to writers worldwide)

Whether your poetry is authored in the midst of anguish or written from the other side, they welcome work that is transparent, honest, and poetically resonant. Frontier Poetry welcomes all interpretations of both hurting and healing. They also encourage submissions from poets of all identities, cultures, and backgrounds.

Judge of the Frontier Poetry Hurt and Healing Prize 2026

Gbenga Adesina 

Prizes for the Frontier Poetry Hurt and Healing Prize 2026

The first-place winner will receive $3,000 and publication. The second- and third-place winners will receive $300 and $200, respectively, along with publication. All finalists will be considered for paid publication in New Voices.

Deadline 

The contest opens January 5th and closes March 8th, 2026.

Submission Guidelines for the Frontier Poetry Hurt and Healing Prize 2026

• Submissions are open to new and emerging writers (for this contest, we define this as poets with no more than one full-length work of poetry published or forthcoming at the time of submission).
• Send up to three poems per submission, for a total of no more than five pages. We have no aesthetic or formal requirements and consider all styles of poetry. Each new submission requires a $20 reading fee.
• As part of our dedication to the pursuit of a more inclusive publishing world, we offer a free submission window for poets from historically marginalized groups (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled community, et cetera) at the beginning of the contest until our cap of fifty.
• Do not include any identifying information in the body of your document.
• Please submit unpublished poems only.
• We welcome simultaneous submissions, but please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
• You may submit multiple times, but each submission requires a separate $20 fee.
• Please provide a brief cover letter that includes a short, third-person bio with your publication history and any applicable content warnings.
• Submissions are open internationally, to any poet writing in English. Inclusion of other languages is welcome, as long as the poem is primarily written in English.
• Please do not submit work if you have a personal relationship with the judge.
• If you haven’t already, please verify your email address with Submittable for more consistent communication.
• We will not accept AI-generated work for this contest.
• If you have any questions, please visit our FAQ page first. If you don’t find the answer to your question, you can send an email to contact (at) frontierpoetry (dot) com.

The official information page.