New England Poetry Club 2011 Contests
* Annual contest: open April/May only
* Student contests: submit by April 30
See Student contests descriptions here.
Contest Guidelines
The following are descriptions of the various contests.
See Student contests descriptions here.
All contests are open to members in good standing except Board members.
Non-members may enter by paying $10 for up to 3 poems and $3 for each additional poem. Only one poem per contest. Make checks out to New England Poetry Club (no charge for students and members).
* Entries must be orginal unpublished (cannot be in print or online) poems in English.
* No poem may be entered in more than one contest, nor should it have won a previous contest.
* Poems should be typed and submitted in duplicate, with the author's name and address on one copy. Include an email address too, if possible. Label poems with the name of the contest.
* No entries will be returned, and New England Poetry Club (NEPC) will not engage in correspondence regarding poems submitted or contest decisions.
* Judges are well-known poets, and sometimes are winners of previous NEPC contests.
* No entries should be sent special delivery or express mail. Regular mail only.
* Mark the name or names of the contest(s) entered on the envelope before mailing. All entries (unless otherwise noted) should be sent to: NEPC Contest Coordinator, P.O. Box 190076, Boston, MA 02119.
* Annual contest deadline: May 31. Entries must be postmarked in April and May only.
The Golden Rose Award
Given annually since 1920 to a poet who has done the most for the art in the previous year or in a lifetime. Recipients chosen by the Board. Click here for a history of the Award.
May Sarton Award
Given intermittently to a poet whose work is an inspiration to other poets. Prize $250. Recipients chosen by the Board.
Members-Only Contests
Rosalie Boyle/Norma Farber Award
For a poem in traditional form, including sonnet, villanelle, and sestina. Prize $100.Gretchen Warren Award
Contests Open to Members and Non-Members
For the best published poem of the previous year. (Members of the governing board may not enter any competition except this one.) Send 2 copies of up to 4 poems, with dates and names of publications, author’s name on one copy. No cash award.Daniel Varoujan Award
For an unpublished poem (not a translation) worthy of Daniel Varoujan, a poet killed by the Turks in the genocide which destroyed three-fourths of the Armenian population. Previous winners may not enter again. Prize $1000.Der-Hovanessian Prize
For a translation from any language. Send a copy of the original with the poem. Prize $200. Funded by John Mahtesian.Erika Mumford Prize
For a poem in any form about foreign culture or travel. Prize $250. Funded by her family and friends.Firman Houghton Award
For a lyric poem in honor of the former president of the NEPC. Prize $250.Barbara Bradley Award
For a lyric poem under 21 lines, written by a woman. Prize $200.Jean Pedrick Chapbook Prize
For a chapbook of poems published in the last two years. Send 2 copies of the book with $5 handling fee for non-members. Prize $100.
Send to 2 Farrar Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.Sheila Margaret Motton Prize
Contests Open to Students
For a book of poems published in the last two years. Send 2 copies of the book with $5 handling fee for non-members. Prize $500.
Send to 2 Farrar Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.Contest deadline: April 30, 2011
No fee for full time students.
Submit in duplicate, with school name, grade, address and email address of student, and contest name on one entry.
The John Holmes Award
For a poem by a student enrolled in a New England college. Prize $100.
Send to 2 Farrar Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.Ruth Berrien Fox Award
Given for a poem by a Massachusetts High School student. Prize $100.
Send to 2 Farrar Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.Longfellow Prize
For more information, contact us at contests@nepoetryclub.org
For poems by Massachusetts students in elementary and middle schools. Prize $100.
Funded by Friends of Longfellow House Frank Buda Memorial Fund.
Send to Longfellow National Historic Site, 105 Brattle St., Cambridge MA 02138.