May 2026 Deadlines: 10 Contests with Deadlines This Month
With plenty of opportunities to submit your work this month, many of which are prestigious awards which offer numerous winning opportunities, it’s prime time to share your work with the world. Don’t forget that acceptances and rejections are by-products of your publishing journey—crafting your authentic art is the ultimate goal. We want to see your poems in the world, wherever they emerge; and as always, submit poetry for free to our New Voices. This list is powered by the deadline service Literistic!
Here at Frontier, our digital chapbook contest is one of the highlights of our year. For this contest, we are looking for submissions from poets with no prior chapbook or full-length manuscript of poetry published or forthcoming prior to submission to this contest. We seek manuscripts which center a clearly envisioned and executed theme, motif, and/or throughline. We’re looking for your untold stories—chapbooks that break the rules in service of your work and voice. We warmly invite submissions from writers of all backgrounds.
Submit a manuscript of 15-30 pages. The winner will receive $2,000 and publication, which includes 25 physical author copies to share and sell and distribution at Bookshop.org, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, earning 50% royalties on your chapbook. Additionally, tens of thousands of readers, editors, and magazines will receive chapbook access through our newsletter. Our goal is to offer a catalytic stepping stone to help launch your poetic career.
Our guest judge, Patricia Smith, will select the winner this year from ten finalists curated by our editorial team.
Deadline: May 10 // Fee
Ninth Letter is the award-winning literary arts journal edited and produced by the Creative Writing Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The journal’s mission is to present original literary writing of exceptional quality, illuminated by cutting-edge graphic design. The winner in each genre (poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction) will receive $1,000, publication in the Fall/Winter print issue and online, two contributor’s copies of the print issue, and bragging rights. Steven Espada Dawson, the author of Late to the Search Party, will judge poetry submissions. Please submit up to 5 poems in a single file of no more than 10 pages.
Deadline: May 1 // Fee
The Atlanta Review began their International Poetry Contest in 1996, when Atlanta was the host for the Summer Olympics. Because the ancient Greek Olympics included literary competitions, A.E. Stallings (then a staff member) suggested that the Atlanta Review should celebrate this tradition, and our contest was born. One Grand Prize winner will receive $1000 and publication. Twenty-ish entrants will receive International Publication Awards, with publication in the contest issue, and a free copy. Thirty entrants will receive International Merit Awards, with recognition in the contest issue, and a free copy. Submit up to 5 poems.
Deadline: May 1 // Fee
Writer’s Digest’s oldest and most popular competition, the Annual Writing Competition, is now accepting entries. One Grand Prize winner will receive: $5,000 in cash, an interview in Writer’s Digest (Nov/Dec 2026 issue) and on WritersDigest.com, a paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference, including a special trophy presentation at the keynote, a coveted pitch opportunity where the winner will receive one on one attention from editors or agents, and publication of their winning piece on WritersDigest.com. The first place winner in each category will receive $1,000 in cash and publication of their winning piece on WritersDigest.com. Second through tenth place will also receive prizes. For poetry, they seek submissions to rhyming and non-rhyming categories, 40 lines maximum.
Deadline: Earlybird – May 4, Final – June 1 // Fee
Creative Future specializes in supporting creative people, underrepresented artists, and communities that are facing barriers and inequalities. They are an organization led by people who identify as underrepresented in arts and culture. You can submit one piece of writing, up to and not exceeding the limit of 50 lines for poetry. The theme for 2026 is ‘Material.’ The theme is a creative prompt, not a requirement. Send them your best work! This award is open to submissions from those currently living in the U.K., and submissions from those with underrepresented backgrounds are encouraged.
Deadline: May 5 // Fee
The Loraine Williams Poetry Prize is an award for a single poem, to be published in The Georgia Review. An entry may include one, two, or three poems, but no more than a total of ten standard pages in 12-point or larger type. The winner will receive an honorarium of $1,500. Brian Teare will serve as the final judge for this contest. All submitted poems will be considered for publication in The Georgia Review.
Deadline: May 15 // Fee
The Crab Creek Review Poetry Prize is open for submissions. This year’s judge is Vandana Khanna. Winning poem will receive $500 cash prize. Winner and finalists will be published in the fall issue of Crab Creek Review. All poems are eligible for publication. Semifinalists will be notified by early July. The winner and finalists will be announced in July. Please submit no more than up to four (4) poems in a submission.
Deadline: May 15 // Fee
River Heron Review has been established to support the arts through the sharing of poetry in the free-access online journal, at readings, workshops, and by making public the transformative power of poetic expression. The winning poet for their annual prize will receive a $500 award and four finalists $100 each, a Zoom reading, and publication in a special contest issue released on August 1. Initial judging will be done by the editors of River Heron Review, Robbin Farr and Dawn Terpstra. Final judge is Alison Tanik, winner of the 2025 River Heron Poetry Prize.
Deadline: May 31 // Fee
The Anhinga Prize for Poetry began in 1983. The competition is open to all U.S. poets for a manuscript of original poetry in English. The winner receives $1000, 25 author copies, and a 50% discount on books. They will also offer an online reading for the winner and a $500 stipend for book-related travel. All manuscripts are screened carefully by paid readers and Anhinga Board members/directors. Our reading team is diverse in aesthetic and style. Five of six current readers are published poets, and all have advanced degrees and/or experience in publishing and writing. The top ten finalists will be sent to judge Karin Gottshall.
Deadline: May 31 // Fee
Created with the belief that great writing is good for the world, Two Sylvias Press mixes modern technology, classic style, and literary intellect with an eco-friendly heart. Submit a manuscript of 17-24 pages of poetry (not including title page, table of contents, end notes). In the body of your emailed submission, include ashort bio, manuscript title, page length, author’s name, address, email, and acknowledgements of previous published poems, if any. Winner receives $1000, print publication of their chapbook, 20 author copies, and an amethyst depression glass trophy. This prize is judged by Kim Addonizio.
Deadline: May 31 // Fee
