PI Prize Now Open!

Poetry International Prize

The judge for the 2023 Poetry International Prize is Alexandra Lytton Regalado

THE POETRY INTERNATIONAL PRIZE  is one of two annual contests sponsored by Poetry International to award a cash prize of $1000 and publication for a single poem. Submit up to 3 poems with a $15 entry fee. You may submit additional poems for a $3 reading fee per poem. All entries are considered for publication.  Please refer to our contest guidelines for more information.

We regret that we can no longer accept hard-copy submissions, nor do we accept submissions through email. Please submit via Submittable. Contact us at poetryintl@gmail.com with questions or concerns.

Contest opens in spring and runs from March 1 to April 30. Winners are announced in the fall.

 



Congratulations to Adam O. Davis, winner of the 2022 Poetry International Prize

The prize-winning poem “Pyrrhic Symphony” will appear in the next issue of Poetry International, PI 29.

Kevin Prufer on “Pyrrhic Symphony”:

Just when I think I know where this poem is headed, it goes somewhere else, slipping from the “white dream of hospitality” of cruise ships, into electronics stores, a hospital room where the speaker’s blood “is haunted by memories of rain,” to a decades old memory of a house on fire.  Adam O. Davis writes with elegance and grace, as if he, too, is surprised by what his unfettered mind conjures—and, with us, he is shaken by his younger self’s curious coldness and his final meditation on empathy and disconnection.  This poem is symphonic, emotionally complex, and rewards rereading.
 

                                                       


 

About the poet:

 

 

 

 

Adam O. Davis is the author of Index of Haunted Houses (Sarabande, 2020), winner of the Kathryn A. Morton Poetry Prize. The recipient of the 2016 George Bogin Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, his work has appeared in The Believer, The Best American Poetry, The Paris Review, Prairie Schooner, The Southern Review, and ZYZZYVA. He lives in San Diego, California, where he teaches English literature at The Bishop’s School

 


Congratulations also to the finalists who will be published on PIOnline. 

Emily Portillo, “Light”

Daniel Zeiders, “The Duck Pond”

Emily Leithauser, “Sunporch” and “Midday”

Lauren Aliza Green, “The Valley”

Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach, “Listening to Michael Jackson in a Closet”

Laura Voivodeship, “Lambing Season”

K.T. Landon, “One Heaven”

Brian Gyamfi, “A Night in Madina” and “The Tree Carries Water”

Jordan Pérez, “Shell” and “Smallmouth”

 


Past Winners

 

2021 Winners, Eva Heisler and Armen Davoudian

Eva Heisler’s, “Woolf’s Hair”, and Armen Davoudian’s “Cheatsheet” are available to read on PIOnline. Click on poem titles to read.


2020 Winner, Patrick James Errington

His poem,“The Opposite of Poetry,” was chosen by judge Blas Falconer and will be published in the Spring 2022 issue of Poetry International


2019 Winner, Laura Budofsky Wisniewski

Her poem, “How Mushrooms Will Save the World.” was chosen by judge Sandra Alcosser for $1000 and will be published in the spring 2022 issue of Poetry International.


2018 Winner, Amir Safi

His poem, “Asahd” was chosen by judge Victoria Chang for $1000 and publication in a future issue of Poetry International.


2017 Winner, Anders Carlson-Wee

His poem, “Cutting for Sign” was chosen by judge Sherwin Bitsui for $1000 and publication in a future issue of Poetry International.


2016 winner, Elisa Díaz Castelo
Her poem, “Last Family Visit to Tequesquitengo” was chosen by Sam Taylor for $1000 and publication in a future issue of Poetry International.


2015 winner, Sally J. Johnson

Congratulations to our 2015 winner, Sally J. Johnson! Her poem “There Is No Denying the Naturalness” was chosen by Carol Frost and will be published in a future issue of Poetry International. Sally J. Johnson also earned a $1000 cash prize!


2014 winner, Vicky Santiesteban

Congratulations to our 2014 winner, Vicky Santiesteban! Her poem “The Heat Is” was chosen by Fady Judah and will be published in a future issue of Poetry International. Vicky Santiesteban also earned a $1000 cash prize!


2013 winner, Mark Wagenaar

Congratulations to this year’s winner, Mark Wagenaar, for his poem, “Migrations.” Mark will receive $1000 and his poem will appear in a future edition of Poetry International. Kudos to finalists: Todd Fredson, “Waiting in Zraluo” and Jennie Panchy, “Envoi (acrostic.)” The amazing Valzhyna Mort was this year’s judge.


2012 winner, Nicole Sealey

Congratulations to our 2012 winner, Nicole Sealey! Her poem “Imagine Sisyphus Happy” was chosen by Jericho Brown and will be published in a future issue of Poetry International. Nicole also earned a $1000 cash prize.


2011 Winner, Ellery J. Akers

Congratulations to the winner of the 2011 Poetry International Prize, Ellery J. Akers! Her poem, “Mud Lake,” was chosen by judge Steve Kowit for a $1,000 prize and publication in an upcoming issue of Poetry International. Kowit called “Mud Lake” “an exquisite piece of work.” Congratulations, Ellery!


2010 winner, Rochelle Hurt

Our winner is Rochelle Hurt, an MFA student at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Her poem, “Helen’s Confession,” was chosen by judge Bruce Boston for publication in an issue of Poetry International, and a $1000 cash prize.


2009 Winner, Rebekah Stout

Congratulations to Rebekah Stout, winner of the Poetry International Prize 2009! Stout’s poems ‘Midas’ and ‘In the Garden’ will appear in Poetry International 17. Sandra Alcosser judged. Kudos to finalists Melissa SteinAnn StruthersNoreen AyresSierra Nelson, and Michael Lee Phillips.


2008 winner, Sasha Parmasad

Winner of Poetry International Prize for 2008 is Sasha Parmasad for her poem, Memory of Sugarcane-worker Off Duty. Ms. Parmasad has received the prize of $1000, and her poem will appear in the next issue of Poetry International.