Submissions are now open for the 2024 Akron Poetry Prize competition. All poets are encouraged to apply by June 15.
The University of Akron Press is a small Ohio-based publisher of scholarly, literary, and general interest books. Since 1988, they have published compelling works with regional and national significance.
Each year, the University of Akron Press offers the Akron Poetry Prize, a competition open to all poets writing in English. The winning poet receives $1,500 and publication of their book as part of the Akron Series in Poetry. The final selection will be made by a nationally prominent poet. Other manuscripts may also be considered for publication in the series.
The final judge for 2024 is Matthew Olzmann. Olzmann is the author of Constellation Route as well as two previous collections of poetry: Mezzanines and Contradictions in the Design. A recipient of fellowships from Kundiman, MacDowell, and the National Endowment for the Arts, Olzmann’s poems have appeared in the New York Times, Best American Poetry, The Pushcart Prizes, Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. He is an assistant professor at Dartmouth College and also teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.
Submission Guidelines:
- Manuscripts must be a total length of at least 48 pages and no longer than 90 pages. Individual poems may have appeared in chapbooks or literary magazines, but collections that have been previously published as a full-length volume cannot be considered. Translations are not eligible.
- Manuscripts must not include identifying information, but should have a title page, and may include an acknowledgments page listing poems previously published in periodicals (if applicable). Please do not submit manuscripts that have the author’s name on each page, or any biographical information. Manuscripts will go to the judge without identifying information. Be sure that your Submittable account reflects your updated contact information, as this information will be used to contact you.
- Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but The University of Akron Press must be notified immediately if the manuscript is accepted elsewhere. Multiple submissions are accepted. Please note that once submitted, manuscripts cannot be modified by the author.
- An entry fee of $25 is required for each manuscript submission, and will be collected through Submittable.
- Intimate friends, relatives, current and former students of the final judge (students in an academic, degree-conferring program or its equivalent), and current faculty, staff, students, and alumni of the University of Akron or the Northeast Ohio MFA Program (NEOMFA) are not eligible to enter the Akron Poetry Prize competition.
Contest results will be posted on the website by September 30. Questions may be sent to uapress@uakron.edu.
Deadline: June 15, 2024
Submit here.
