A single-poem prize asks a different question than a manuscript contest or a journal submission. It asks: which poem, standing alone, in this moment, is the one that matters? There is a particular honesty in this. A manuscript can carry weak poems on the strength of the whole; a single-poem contest cannot. You must choose your best work — not your most ambitious, not your most recent, but the poem that is most fully achieved.
The field of single-poem prizes is smaller and more varied than manuscript contests. Some are run by major journals and carry significant prize money. Some are run by small presses and are as notable for the publication opportunity as for the award itself. A few are themed — asking for work on a specific subject — which can make them easier to target if you have poems that fit. All of them, the best ones, are adjudicated by a poet whose own work you should read before entering.
Why single-poem prizes matter
For poets earlier in their careers, single-poem prizes offer something manuscript contests cannot: the chance to be recognised for one poem, without needing a complete collection. A win or a shortlisting at a reputable single-poem prize carries genuine weight in literary circles — it tells editors that your work has been read carefully and found excellent by a discerning judge.
For established poets, they offer a different kind of value. A single poem entered into a themed competition forces a useful constraint: which poem, from everything I have written, best fits this moment? The discipline of selection is productive in itself.
Most reputable single-poem prizes charge an entry fee — typically $10 to $20 per poem — to cover the cost of administration and fund the prize itself. This is standard and legitimate. Be wary of prizes with very high fees ($50+), no named judge, or no track record of paying previous winners. Poets & Writers and the Alliance of Independent Authors maintain lists of vetted competitions.
What to look for in a prize
Before entering any poetry prize, check: Is there a named judge whose work you know and respect? Has the prize paid its previous winners? Is the press or journal running it reputable and active? Are the submission terms clear about rights — does the prize require first publication rights, or can you enter a previously published poem?
The best prizes are transparent about all of this. They name their judge well in advance. They publish the winning poem and often the shortlist. They have a clear record. They take no rights beyond what is stated, and what is stated is fair.
The top single-poem prizes
Rattle Poetry Prize
The largest single-poem prize in American poetry, awarded annually by Rattle magazine. The $10,000 prize goes to one poem; four runner-up prizes of $2,000 are also awarded. All entries are considered for publication in Rattle. The prize is open to subscribers year-round and to all poets during a dedicated entry window each year. Rattle is a serious and widely-read magazine with a genuine commitment to craft and accessibility.
The Bridport Prize — Poetry
One of the most prestigious literary prizes in the English-speaking world, the Bridport Prize accepts poetry submissions from poets worldwide and has a long track record of discovering significant new voices. The prize money is substantial and the judging is serious. Competition is intense — tens of thousands of entries annually — but a shortlisting carries genuine recognition.
The Forward Prize — Best Single Poem
The Forward Prize for Best Single Poem is one of the UK's most watched poetry awards. Unlike most prizes on this list, it is submitted by publishers and editors rather than by poets directly — poems must be published in a qualifying journal or collection during the year to be eligible. If your work appears in significant UK or international journals, your editor may nominate it. Worth knowing about as your publication record grows.
The Missouri Review Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize — Poetry
One of the most significant prizes offered by a literary journal, the Missouri Review's Editors' Prize awards $5,000 and publication to the winning poem. The Missouri Review is a well-respected quarterly with a long history of publishing important work. The prize is open to unpublished poems submitted during the competition window — check the journal's website for current dates.
The Boulevard Emerging Poets Prize
Boulevard magazine's prize for emerging poets — those who have not yet published a full-length collection — is one of the few major single-poem prizes specifically for poets earlier in their careers. The $1,500 award and publication in Boulevard are meaningful recognitions. If you do not yet have a book but have been publishing in journals, this is an excellent target.
The LemonLight Prize 2026 — Desire Lines
The LemonLight Prize is Ink & Ribbon's annual award for an emerging poet. This year's theme is Desire Lines — those informal paths worn into the landscape by people going where they actually want to go, rather than where they are directed. We are looking for poems that carry that quality: work that finds its own way, that moves by necessity rather than convention.
The $3,000 prize is awarded to one poet. Of which, one poem is printed and mailed to all Bound Circle patrons as a printed broadside. The judge this year is Leila Chatti, one of the most important younger poets writing in English and a faculty member in Pacific University's MFA in Writing programme.
Submit to the LemonLight Prize →Journal prizes worth knowing
In addition to standalone prizes, many literary journals run annual competitions for single poems. These are worth tracking because they offer both prize money and publication in a respected venue. Among the most significant: the Kenyon Review Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers (for writers under 30), the Southern Review's annual prize, the New England Review's narrative prize, and the Poetry magazine prizes distributed throughout the year to poems published in its pages.
Our guide to where to submit your poems covers the journals themselves; many run prizes in addition to open submissions. Worth subscribing to a journal you admire — subscribers often receive notification of prize windows before the general public, and some prizes are open only to subscribers.
How to enter a prize well
The most important decision is which poem to enter. Do not enter the poem you are most attached to — enter the poem that is most completely itself, that requires nothing outside it, that would stand alone in any context and compel a reader who knew nothing about you. This is often not your newest poem or your most ambitious one. It is the poem where everything worked.
Read the guidelines carefully and follow them precisely. Judges disqualify entries for exceeding line limits, for including identifying information when anonymous judging is required, for submitting in the wrong format. These are avoidable mistakes.
Read the judge's work before you enter. This is not about writing poems you think the judge will like — it is about understanding the kind of attention you are submitting to. A judge whose work you know and respect, whose standards you understand, is a judge worth entering for regardless of whether your poem wins.
