Writing Competition for Poets Aged 60 and Over: Off the Grid Poetry Prize

The Off the Grid Prize recognizes the work of older poets and highlights important contemporary voices in poetry. Winners receive $1000 and publication, promotion, and distribution of their book in print and audio formats. We are looking for work by poets over sixty, ripened in craft and vision, and sufficiently sprightly to promote their work through readings and networks.

2024 Contest Submission Guidelines

1. The competition is open only to poets aged 60 years or older.

2. Submissions will be open from May 1 to August 31, 2023. The winner will be announced in December of 2023.

3. The winner will receive $1,000 and publication, promotion, and distribution in print and audiobook formats. The entry fee is $25.

4. Manuscripts must be typed, paginated, and at least 50 pages in length. Manuscripts must have a table of contents and include a list of acknowledgments for poems previously published. There should be one title page with the book title only.

5. Do not include your name, or any information that identifies authorship, anywhere in the actual manuscript. All contact information (name, address, phone, email) should be included in the cover letter submitted via Submittable.

6. Individual poems from the manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks of less than 35 pages, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished. Previously self-published books are not eligible.

7. Former students of the contest judge may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships.

8. Please submit online via Submittable.

9. Send inquiries to info@grid-books.org.