Writing Competition: The 2027 Alice James Award

The 2027 Alice James Award is currently open to submissions

The Alice James Award welcomes submissions of full-length, previously unpublished poetry manuscripts from emerging as well as established poets. Entrants must reside in the United States.

The winner of the 2027 Alice James Award will receive $2000, book publication, and distribution through Consortium. In addition to the winning manuscript, one or more additional manuscripts may be chosen for publication as the Editor’s Choice.

For details on submission guidelines and how to send a hardcopy submission during the open season, review our guidelines below: 

Guidelines for Manuscript Submission: 

• Screening for the Alice James Award is blind. Because of this, no contact information is allowed within your manuscript, including within the filename, if electronically submitted. Electronic submissions will have contact information collected via Submittable, which is hidden from our screeners. Hardcopy submissions must include a separate title page, which lists the title of your manuscript and contact information (name, address, e-mail address, and phone number).

• Do not include any preambles, bios, or acknowledgments within your submitted manuscript.

• Manuscripts must have a numbered table of contents.

• No illustrations, photographs, or images should be included.

• Manuscripts must be typed in no less than 12-point font, paginated, and 48 – 100 pages in length (single-spaced). For hardcopy submissions, we accept double-sided manuscripts.

• Individual poems from the manuscript may have been previously published in magazines, anthologies, or chapbooks of less than 25 pages, but the collection, as a whole, must be unpublished.

• Translations and self-published books are not eligible.

• No multi-authored collections, please.

• Entry fee for the Alice James Award is $30 for online and hardcopy submissions. Checks or money orders for hardcopy submissions should be made payable to Alice James Books.

Manuscripts may be submitted online or by regular mail. 

Mail hard copy entries to: 

Alice James Books, Alice James Award
Auburn Hall, 60 Pineland Drive
Suite 206
New Gloucester, ME 04260

Online submissions, click here to submit during our reading period.

More information here.