The Longlist: One Hundred Poets
From 706 entries and more than 3,500 poems submitted across eight countries, these are the hundred poets longlisted for the inaugural LemonLight Prize.
The LemonLight Prize received an extraordinary response in its inaugural year. Poets submitted across every register and form the theme invited — lyric and documentary, confessional and ecological, formally traditional and formally adventurous — and the quality of the work made the first stage of judging genuinely difficult.
The hundred poets listed here represent work that distinguished itself from the field: in precision of language, in formal ambition, in the willingness to follow a poem wherever it needed to go. From this longlist, fifty poets will be selected for the shortlist. Those fifty will each contribute a poem to the LemonLight Prize 2026 Anthology, produced to the same standard as the press's full publishing list.
We are grateful to every poet who submitted. The quality and seriousness of the work submitted this year has set a standard we look forward to sustaining.
From this longlist, fifty poets will be selected for the shortlist, announced in early July 2026. The shortlisted poets will each have a poem included in The LemonLight Prize 2026 Anthology — a limited edition of 250 copies, produced to the same standard as the press's full publishing list. The prize winner and honorable mentions will be announced in early August 2026.
Judging is conducted blind throughout. The prize is judged by Leila Chatti, author of Deluge and Girlhood, and one of the most distinctive poets of her generation.
The LemonLight Prize 2026 Anthology is a limited edition of 250 copies. Pre-orders are open now — half the print run has already been claimed.
Pre-order the Anthology →