Writing Competition: Philip Levine Prize for Poetry

Guidelines: 2023 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry

Submission Period July 1, 2023 – September 30, 2023

 Final Judge Douglas Kearney

Award $2,000 cash award; publication by Anhinga Press; 25 author copies of the published book; and a public reading at California State University, Fresno

 Please read the complete guidelines before submitting your manuscript.

Eligibility

• The Philip Levine Prize for Poetry seeks previously unpublished, full-length poetry manuscripts and is open to any poet writing in English. Individual poems in a contest manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks, but the work as a whole must be unpublished.

• Translations are ineligible for this prize, as well as previously self-published books.

• Current and former faculty and students of California State University, Fresno are ineligible.

• Close friends and family members of the final judge are also ineligible.

Manuscript Requirements

• Before submitting, please carefully review the guidelines below to ensure that your manuscript is correctly formatted. Double-check your work. Address any errors or mistakes before you submit your manuscript. We will not be able to assist in addressing or fixing errors that occur as a result of failure to review the guidelines. If you make a mistake, you are welcome to make a new submission and withdraw your old submission through Submittable, though you will be charged another $25 entry fee. At this time, we are unable to provide refunds. Please carefully review your manuscript before you submit it. Include a table of contents and number your pages.

• Manuscript should be 48-80 pages in length (not including title page, table of contents, etc.). Each poem should start on a new page.

• If needed, you may attach a ‘Notes’ page.

• Please do NOT include the following in your manuscript document: a cover letter; a dedication or thank-you page; an acknowledgements page; any biographical notes; your name or any identifying information.

• Within the document, please include a single title page with only the title of the manuscript so that your entry remains anonymous.

• Do NOT include your name or personal information in the file name or in the title of the manuscript.

• Simultaneous submissions to other publishers or contests are permitted as long as you notify Levine Prize staff promptly if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere

Deadline

All entries must be certified by Submittable (online) by September 30, 2023.

• We are no longer accepting hardcopy manuscripts.

• Entry Fee: An entry fee of $25 (U.S.) must accompany each online submission.

• Multiple submissions are accepted so long as a separate entry fee accompanies each submission.

• A limited number of fee waivers to cover the $25 submission fee may be made available on a case-by-case basis. For more information, please email the contest coordinator, Mai Der Vang: 

maidervang@mail.fresnostate.edu

(please wait until July 1, 2023 to send your fee waiver email inquiry).

Submit Your Manuscript

• Be sure that your document is complete and formatted correctly before uploading.

• Reminder: Do NOT include contact information in the body of your manuscript, in the file name, or in the title of the manuscript.

• Include a title page with manuscript title only and enter your contact information separately into Submittable so that the manuscript remains anonymous.

Submit your manuscript here.