Contest

SRPR Editors' Prize Contest: $1,000

Submissions Open: January 1
Deadline: April 15

One winning poem will be awarded $1,000, two runners-up will be awarded $100 each, and 3-5 honorable mentions will be selected. All winning poems, honorable mentions, and several finalists are published in the winter issue of SRPR. Moreover, the contest winner will be invited to read his/her winning poem at the annual Lucia Getsi Reading Series held at Bloomington, IL.

Finalists are read by a prominent outside judge, who also writes an introduction to the winning poem. Recent judges include Jonah Mixon-Webster, GC Waldrep, Rachel Zucker, Joshua Corey, Juliana Spahr, David Baker, C.S. Giscombe and Jeanne Marie Beaumont. Judges are announced after winners are selected.

Entry Fee: Our entry fee of $20 includes a one-year subscription to SRPR (two issues). If you already subscribe, then we will extend your subscription. International contestants will receive PDF versions of SRPR.

Guidelines:

We accept simultaneous submissions. To withdraw a specific poem or the entire submission notify us by email at contact[AT]srpr[DOT]org.

To Submit Online: Please visit online Submission Manager for the Editors' Prize Contest. You will find full guidelines on the submission page. Also please note that your SRPR issues will be shipped to the shipping address that you will select in PayPal.

**Important note for existing subscribers to SRPR: when you are at the PayPal checkout page, please provide the same email id that you have used with us in the past. This will help to update your existing account with us without creating duplicate account. If you are not sure which email id you have registered with SRPR, then please email us with your postal address details and we will reply back with your email id.

Also, after successful payment you should receive an email confirmation that we have received your entry. If not, then please check your SPAM folder. Also, please whitelist in your email client the following email ids: contact[at]srpr[dot]org & auto-reply[at]srpr[dot]org. If for some reason the email from our server is not getting delivered to your account, then you can always check the status of your payment and submission by logging in to your account with us.

To Submit by Postal Mail : Submit two copies of up to three unpublished poems, maximum of ten pages total. Name, address, email and phone number of poet should appear on each page of one copy only; the other copy must be free of all identifying information. Entries must be unpublished and will not be returned. Please check our website in August for announcement of winners.

To enter the contest, please send your entry, along with your check (made out to SRPR) to:

SRPR (Spoon River Poetry Review)
4241 Publications Unit
Illinois State University
Normal, IL 61790-4241

SRPR Editors' Prize 2023 Contest Results


Congratulations to the winners of this year's SRPR Editors' Prize Contest, selected by Jonah Mixon-Webster!

Thanks to everyone who entered; it was our pleasure to read such a wide variety of truly excellent poems.

Marissa Davis, our first-place winner, will receive $1000, an introduction written by Jonah Mixon-Webster, and an invitation to read at SRPR's annual Lucia Getsi Reading Series, to be held in Bloomington, Illinois, in April 2024.

Stay tuned for the publication of these poems, along with several finalists, in our Winter 2023 issue, due out in mid-December:

Winner:
Marissa Davis, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Dead Fish” ($1000)

Runner-Up:
Ricardo de la Cruz II, “Between the World & Me” ($100)

Honorable Mention:
Linda Zisquit, “Wing”
Bruce Bond, “Linda Loman”
Veronica Schorr, “Running Away”

Past Contest Winners


A detailed list of past winners, runners up and honorable mentions are available here.

47.2 Meghan Malachi, "We Moved Out of the Projects and into a Home," chosen by Ashley M. Jones

46.2 Dean Gessie, "diary of a dead eel boy," chosen by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

45.2 David Groff, "Disbelieving These Deaths, I Go to Sit by Lake Hebron," chosen by Austin Smith

44.2 Mirande Bissell, "The Mammoth Steppe," chosen by Rachel Webster

43.2 Mark Svenvold, "Immigration Algorithm (Application Form D (3) b (1) a)," chosen by Li-Young Lee

42.2 Kelly Michels, "Elegy for the Poppy," chosen by Ewa Chrusciel

41.2 Nancy Hewitt, "The Secret of White," chosen by GC Waldrep

40.2 Julie Marie Wade, "Source Amnesia," chosen by Rachel Zucker

39.2 Emma Bolden, "It was no more predictable," chosen by Joshua Corey

38.2 Jesse Nissim, "Fire," chosen by Juliana Spahr

37.2 William Stobb, "A Moment for Authentic Shine," chosen by David Baker

36.2 Jennie Ray, "Chapter VII: When You Stand in Front of the Coffeed Moths," chosen by C.S. Giscombe

35.2 Nancy Pearson, "Abrams Creek," chosen by Jeanne Marie Beaumont