Canada's most generous poetry award, founded by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin.
Title: 2017 Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award submission deadline
Date: January 31, 2018
Description: Established in 1998, in honor of the poet Benjamin Saltman (1927-1999), this award is for a previously unpublished original collection of poetry. Awarded collection is selected through an annual competition which is open to all poets. Award is $3000, publication of the awarded collection by Red Hen Press, and a four-week PLAYA Residency.
This year’s final judge is Richard Blanco.
Title: Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize submission deadline
Date: January 15, 2018
Location: US
Description: The Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize supports the publication of a first full-length book of poems by a Latinx poet.
The winning poet will receive $1000 and a contract from University of Notre Dame Press. Upon publication of the winning book, Letras Latinas will extend an invitation to both the winner and the judge to give a joint reading at Notre Dame.
The Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize is awarded every other year. There is no entry fee.
This year’s judge is Ada Limón.
Title: Rattle Chapbook Prize submission deadline
Date: January 15, 2018
Description: While most chapbook contests offer maybe $500 and 25 copies of your chapbook, Rattle is going to give one poet something special. Every year, at least one winner will receive:
500 copies.
Distribution to Rattle’s 7,000+ subscribers.
In a world where a bestselling full-length poetry book means 1,000 copies sold, the winner will reach an audience seven times as large on the first day alone—an audience that includes hundreds of other literary magazines, presses, and well-known poets. This will be a chapbook to launch a career.
Title: National Poetry Month (Canada, US, UK)
Start Date: April 1, 2018
End Date: April 30, 2018
Location: Canada, US, UK
Description: National Poetry Month is a month-long celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 and observed since 1999 in Canada. As the Academy of American Poets states, National Poetry Month is meant to widen the attention of individuals and the media to the art of poetry, to living poets, to the nation’s complex poetic heritage, and to poetry books and journals of wide aesthetic range and concern. National Poetry Month events and initiatives increase the visibility and availability of poetry in popular culture while acknowledging and celebrating poetry’s ability to sustain itself in the many places where it is practiced and appreciated.
Learn more about National Poetry Month via the Academy of American Poets, the League of Canadian Poets and UK Book Trade’s National Poetry Month.
Title: National Poetry Month.ca submission deadline
Date: February 28, 2018
Description: Please send poetry, collages, book art, altered books, graphic comics, asemic writing, visual art, visual poems, imaginary letters and anything else you can think of that makes readers question their ideas of what poetry is for consideration for NationalPoetryMonth.ca 2018. Especially welcomed is work by the following groups: women, people of colour, disabled, indigenous and genderqueer writers. We will consider work by writers and artists from all over the world, including translations into English, provided there aren’t copyright issues.
Title: National Poetry Month.ca
Start Date: April 1, 2018
End Date: April 30, 2018
Description: Amanda Earl of AngelHousePress started NationalPoetryMonth.ca in 2009 as an alternative to institutionalized celebrations of poetry with the goal of expanding preconceived notions of what poetry is or means. NationalPoetryMonth.ca is a celebration of the nation of poetry. Poetry is a land of risk, play, meditation, provocation and delight. It cannot be contained within borders and should not be restricted by boundaries of any kind. Through the month of April, you will find poems that explore boundaries and break through barriers. The creators of these poems come from all over the world. Ideally the poems will inspire more poetry, will serve to continue the conversation that poetry creates, a conversation that is not limited by time, place, form, age, gender, sexual orientation, political orientation, religion or financial constraints. The site is free and all of the poets have graciously given their poems without payment in any type of currency except your reading pleasure.
Title: Catriona Wright and Spencer Gordon at Tree Reading Series
Date: May 8, 2018
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Description: Running since May 9, 1980, the Tree Reading Series (Tree) is one of Canada’s longest-running literary events and an essential part of Ottawa’s vibrant literary community. Tree is a non-profit organization that supports established and emerging writers from Ottawa and across Canada by offering a supportive public venue for writers to present their own work and to benefit from exposure to the work of other writers. In providing this service, Tree hopes to inspire and sustain the development of the literary community in Ottawa and to promote Ottawa as an important community for Canadian literary arts.
The evening features a workshop on a topic to be announced with Jeff Blackman, readings by Catriona Wright and Spencer Gordon, and then an open mic.
Title: Ronna Bloom at Tree Reading Series
Date: April 10, 2018
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Description: Running since May 9, 1980, the Tree Reading Series (Tree) is one of Canada’s longest-running literary events and an essential part of Ottawa’s vibrant literary community. Tree is a non-profit organization that supports established and emerging writers from Ottawa and across Canada by offering a supportive public venue for writers to present their own work and to benefit from exposure to the work of other writers. In providing this service, Tree hopes to inspire and sustain the development of the literary community in Ottawa and to promote Ottawa as an important community for Canadian literary arts.
The evening features a workshop on a topic to be announced with Cyril Dabydeen, a reading by Ronna Bloom, and then an open mic.
Title: Tree Press Chapbook Contest submission deadline
Date: January 15, 2018
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Description: This contest is for those who come to keep the seats warm at The Tree Reading Series, those who come to the Seed workshops, or are regulars at the Tree open mic readings. The prize is now $250 and ten copies of your chapbook!
Title: Barrington Bards – Poetry Writing Class
Date: January 17, 2018
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Description: For those interested in developing their own poetry, Donny O’Rourke is offering a new class open to poets at every level of ability, experience and ambition. This exciting new class begins on Wednesday, 17th January, 2018, but enrolment is ongoing.
Donny’s many ‘graduates’ have gone on to gain praise, prizes and publication, with several students proceeding to Masters courses and Doctorates. Other writers simply enjoyed the camaraderie, stimulus and constructive candour of the task based, informal but never casual weekly meetings.