AQUARIUS PRESS

2023 National Poetry Month Prize

Poets are invited to compete for the National Poetry Month Prize, sponsored by the award-winning Aquarius Press. The competition runs the entire month of April. Poets at all levels are welcome. The winner will receive a $500 cash prize, publication by Aquarius Press and 10 author copies.

All entries will be read blind by our panel of editors. Manuscripts should include a title page (listing only the title of the work), table of contents, and when appropriate, an acknowledgments page. Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font such as Garamond or Times New Roman in pdf format. Manuscripts should be 45-88 pages in length, not including front and back matter (table of contents, title page, etc.). Identifying information for the author should not be included anywhere on the manuscript itself. You are welcome to include a brief bio or something about yourself in your cover note, which will only be made accessible to the editorial panel after the group of Semi-Finalist and Finalist manuscripts has been chosen.

Manuscripts containing individual stories, essays, or poems that have been previously published online or in print are eligible–please simply note previously published work on an acknowledgments page. On the other hand, if your manuscript has been previously published as a collection (including publication with a press, self-publication, online/digital publication, and publication in a small, limited-edition print run), then the manuscript is not eligible.

• Simultaneous submissions are acceptable and encouraged, but please notify us by withdrawing your manuscript immediately if it is accepted for publication elsewhere.
• Multiple submissions (the submission of more than one manuscript to the contest) are permitted but a separate fee applies.
• Prize awarded upon publication.

We look forward to reading your work!

After the entry fee is paid, email the entry to aquariuspressbooks@gmail.com