Look Forward to 2025 With 5 Poetry Contests to Submit To
With 2024 winding down, you might already be gearing up to set your writing goals for next year. When it comes to big ambitions like entering contests and getting your work published, it can be best to get started early—so you can start putting together manuscripts, proofreading and editing, and more. Here’s a list of five poetry contests to submit to in 2025.
The 2025 William Matthews Poetry Prize from Asheville Poetry Review
Deadline: Jan. 15, 2025
The William Matthews Poetry Prize requests submissions of one poem for a big prize: $1,000 and publication in Asheville Poetry Review, a top journal that has published writers who include Joy Harjo, Billy Collins, and Patricia Smith. This year’s judge is Rattle Prize winner and National Endowment of the Arts recipient Nickole Brown.
Magma Poetry Competition from Magma Poetry
Deadline: Jan. 31, 2025
First prize wins £1000, second prize wins £300, and third prize takes home £150 in this well-known, annual contest that takes submissions of both poems up to 10 lines and poems of 11 to 50 lines. The winners will be published in Magma Poetry, a journal that aims to spotlight the most compelling voices in contemporary poetry.
2025 Poet of the Year Prize from Only Poems
Reading Period: March 1-April 30th, 2025 (check back for deadline)
There’s no better way to make your 2025 spectacular than to add Poet of the Year to your list of accolades. Poets will submit a “body of work”—not yet specified, but likely more than 10 poems and less than a chapbook-length manuscript—and the winner will receive $3,000 and a free lifetime subscription to the Only Poems Substack. You’ll also get several poems published alongside an interview about your work.
The 2025 Student Poetry Contest from American Library of Poetry
Deadline: April 30, 2025
If you’re a U.S. student in grades three through twelve, get your submission and publication journey started early with this yearly contest from the American Library of Poetry. The prompt is simple and fully open to your interpretation and imagination: Submit one poem of 20 lines or fewer on any subject. There are individual prizes within the age categories, but the writer who wins overall will win a prize of $500.
2025 Akron Poetry Prize from The University of Akron Press
Deadline: June 15, 2025
Do you have a full manuscript ready to go or well underway? Then this contest from The University of Akron Press, which counts writers like Oliver de la Paz and Tyler Mills among past winners, is the perfect opportunity for you. Submit manuscripts of at least 48 pages and no more than 90 pages to be awarded publication and $1,500. This year’s judge is Eduardo C. Corral, author of Guillotine and Slow Lighting and winner of the Yale Younger Poets Competition.
Happy submitting! For more help getting your work out there, check out our guide to submission etiquette and our recommendations for tracking your poetry submissions.
