We invite everyone to enter the NEPC 2026 contests! The submission period will open on May 1 and end on June 30. Winners will be announced in September on our website, in our newsletter, and on social media.
Read about this year’s contest judges.
Entry Fees
NEPC members: You may enter our contests at no charge. Make sure you log into your account, then return to this page and select the link for the contest you wish to enter.
Non-members: Entry fees for non-members are $5 for individual poem contests, $15 for the Pedrick Chapbook Prize, and the Sheila Margaret Motton Prize. There is no entry fee for the Der Hovanessian Prize.
Select the buttons below for the contests you wish to enter. Choose the Register button to submit your work. You may choose to become an NEPC member before submission if you wish.
Rights
For individual poem contests, winning and finalist poems will be published in our annual anthology. Therefore, we require first publication rights; all rights revert to the author upon publication. We would appreciate acknowledgment of our award-winning work in future publications.
We welcome simultaneous submissions. If your poem is accepted for publication elsewhere, we ask that you inform us immediately, so it will be withdrawn from consideration. If your poem is selected as a winner or finalist, we request first publication rights. In this case, please withdraw the poem from consideration by other journals.
Individual Poem Contests
General guidelines:
- Submit only one English-language poem (or, for the Washington Allen prize, one poem sequence). NOTE: The submission screen states that up to 20 files can be submitted, but only one will be considered.
- Entries must be the poet’s original work and unpublished in print or online. Entries produced by AI are not accepted.
- Upload your manuscript as a Word or PDF document.
- Entries must be anonymous. Do not include your name anywhere in the document, including as part of the filename.
- No poem may be entered in more than one NEPC contest, nor should it have won a previous NEPC contest.
Winners of individual poem contests will receive:
- $250
- Publication of winning poems in the annual NEPC online anthology
- Opportunity to read during the online Prize-Winners’ Reading
All submissions are due by June 30, 11:59 pm ET.
The Samuel Washington Allen Prize is awarded to a long poem or poem sequence of three to ten pages (single-spaced). This prize honors the legacy of the African-American poet, translator, professor, and former New England Poetry Club leader, Samuel Washington Allen, who also published as Paul Vesey.
The E.E. Cummings Prize, named for one of the New England Poetry Club’s most famous charter members, is for a compelling, lyrical, or experimental poem no more than 21 lines.
The Amy Lowell Prize, for an outstanding poem of any length or style by a poet with strong ties to New England, recognizes the charismatic poet who was the New England Poetry Club’s first president.
As part of the submission process, you will be asked to give a brief description of your ties to New England, past or present.
The Der Hovanessian Prize is named in honor of poet and translator Diana Der Hovanessian, who led the New England Poetry Club with vision and energy for decades. The prize is awarded for a translation from any language; the original poem should be authored by someone other than the translator.
Submit only one English-language translation. In the same file, please include the poem in its original language with the name of the poet.
Book Contests
The Jean Pedrick Chapbook Prize is awarded for a chapbook (40 pages maximum) published in the last two calendar years (2024-2025). Information about where to send your chapbook will be provided in a confirmation email following the registration process.
The author of the winning chapbook will receive:
- $250 award
- 250 NEPC Award book-cover seals (gold or silver-foil stickers which identify the book as prize-winning)
- Opportunity to read during the online NEPC Prize-Winners’ Reading
- We also request permission to include one poem from the winning chapbook in the annual NEPC online anthology
The Sheila Margaret Motton Prize is awarded for a full-length book published in the last two calendar years (2024-2025). Please note that electronic submission of a Digital Advance Reader Copy (ARC) is required. This means the front and back matter are included as well as the covers. We no longer accept physical copies for this contest.
The author of the winning book will receive:
- $250 award
- 250 NEPC Award book-cover seals (gold or silver-foil stickers which identify the book as prize-winning)
- Opportunity to read during the online NEPC Prize-Winners’ Reading
- We also request permission to include one poem from the winning chapbook in the annual NEPC online anthology
Questions?
Please contact contests@nepoetryclub.org if you have questions about any of the contests or guidelines.
Thank you for your participation!