December Deadlines: 11 Contests and Magazines With Deadlines This Month

Winter’s here and we’ve gathered some incredible opportunities for poets in December. Fellowships, magazines, awards and internships: write, submit, repeat. & as always, submit poetry for free to our New Voices.


2017 Frontier OPEN // One Poem // $5000

Send us four of your best poems. Blind reading OPEN to every poet out there, emerging and established. Ten poets will be chosen for publication, nine with $100 prizes, and the winning poet will receive our largest prize yet, $5000. That’s momentum, that’s a serious opportunity to invest in yourself as a poet. Submit here.

Entry Fee: $20
Deadline: November 30


Muzzle is an excellent younger journal with some talented poetry editors such as Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib. Send them 3-5 poems in a single doc—no fee. Submit here.

Entry Fee: N/A
Deadline: November 30


The Seattle Review: Long Poems

We often get some excellent long poetry in our slush, such as PJ William’s “the road to old fort,” but we don’t get to publish it as often as we’d really like. Fortunately, Seattle Review is going for it by being all about long poems. Send them your best piece/series that’s 10 pages plus. Submit here.

Entry Fee: Free
Deadline: December 1


The Fine Arts Work Center Fellowship

Five emerging poets will be selected to receive a 7-month long fellowship in Provencetown, Massachusetts. Perks include: $750 monthly stipend, furnished apartment. If you have yet to publish your first collection, this is a great opportunity.  Submit here.

Entry Fee: $50
Deadline: December 1


The Sillerman First Book Prize For African Poets

For the African members of our community: The African Poetry Book Fund is seeking to award an unpublished African poet with the Sillerman Prize. $1000 and publication. Free to enter, send 50 pages. Submit here.

Entry Fee: Free
Deadline: December 1


The Center for Book Arts’ 2018 Letterpress Chapbook

Natasha Tretheway is judging this year’s Chapbook Contest for the CBA. Prize: $1000, a beautiful publication, and an invitation to read your work. Submit here.

Entry Fee: $30
Deadline: December 15


Poetry Society’s Chapbook Fellowship

Poets & poets 30 or under specifically—get your chapbook to Poetry Society this month. Their fellowship offers a $1000 prize, month-long residency in Oregon, and the chance to be paid as a college instructor of poetry.  Send them your physical manuscript.

Entry Fee: $12
Deadline: December 22


The Moth Poetry Prize 2017

This is one of those big ones that comes each year: €10,000 prize for a single poem. Three runner ups receive €1,000, and everyone gets publication. Submit here.

Entry Fee: €12 per poem (submit as many times as you want)
Deadline: November 30


Always include the foundations of our literary community in your monthly subs list. Crazyhorse closes at the end of the year and will put your poem alongside other great poets. Submit here.

Entry Fee: $3
Deadline: December 31


Tupelo Press’s Dorset Prize

Great book prize here: $4500, month-long residency, and publication. Send them 48-88 pages of poetry. Submit here.

Entry Fee: $30
Deadline: December 31


NEA Grant for Translation Projects

Translators! This one’s for you. Get your $12,500 or $25,000 grant (while you can) for a book-length translation project. Getting a government grant is a little extra bureaucracy, so make sure you start the process early.  Submit here.

Entry Fee: Free
Deadline: January 11

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