The 2025 New American Poetry Prize is open for submissions starting September 1, 2024. Deadline is January 15, 2025.

The winning manuscript will be published and its author will receive $1500, promotional support, and 25 author copies. 

Manuscripts should be at least 48 pages, but there is no maximum length. All forms and styles of poetry are welcome.

We read manuscripts blind, so please exclude identifying information from the manuscript itself. All necessary contact information is included in your Submittable record. We do not accept submissions by email or post. Please use Submittable to send your work.

Final judge this year is SARA ELIZA JOHNSON, whose first book, Bone Map (Milkweed, 2014), was selected for the 2013 National Poetry Series. Her second book of poetry, Vapor, was released by Milkweed in 2022. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Rona Jaffe Foundation, and the VCCA, among other honors, and is currently an associate professor at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

More information is available at our Frequently Asked Questions.

Further questions may be directed to david@newamericanpress.com.

The MAYDAY Prizes have extended the deadline to November 15, 2024!

First, second, and third place winners in each category will receive digital publication on the MAYDAY website, promotion, and the following cash prizes:

• First place: $500
• Second place: $250
• Third Place: $100

This year's contest will be judged by Angela Peñaredondo. Born in Iloilo City, Philippines, ANGELA PEÑAREDONDO is a queer Filipinx writer, interdisciplinary artist, educator and scholar. Peñaredondo is the author of nature felt but never apprehended (Noemi Press), All Things Lose Thousands of Times (Inlandia Institute, Winner of Hilary Gravendyk Regional Prize) and Maroon (Jamii Publications).

Peñaredondo’s work has appeared in The Academy of American Poets, Pleiades, Black Warrior Review, Southern Humanities Review and elsewhere. Peñaredondo has received fellowships from Hedgebrook, Kundiman, VONA/Voices of our Nations Art, and Macondo. They have also received awards from TinHouse, Community of Writers and others. They are  an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Humanities at California State University San Bernardino. Currently, Peñaredondo lives in Los Angeles, Gabrielino-Tongva land.

General Guidelines

• Manuscripts should be a Word or PDF document. Please use the title of your micro-chapbook as your document name. Do not include identifying information in your manuscript file.
• In your cover letter, please include your name, contact information, and a brief third-person bio.
• Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere while under our consideration.
• Entry fee is $20.
• New extended deadline is November 15, 2024.

The MAYDAY Micro-Chapbook Poetry Prize

• To submit, please send 8-12 pages of poetry in a single Word or PDF document. Please also include a title page, and an acknowledgements page of previously published chapbook poems if applicable.
• Individual poems from the manuscript may have been previously published in magazines or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.
• Do not include any identifying information in the manuscript document itself. Any identifying information should only be in the submission form.
• Please title your document with a shortened title of your chapbook using the following format: Title_MAYDAY (e.g. Permutations_MAYDAY)
• In your cover letter, please include your name, contact information, and a brief third-person bio.
• Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere.
• All rights revert to the author after publication.
• Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will not be considered.
• Winning micro-chapbooks are treated as distinct ebooks with their own unique ISBN and published digitally on the MAYDAY website.

The MAYDAY Prizes have extended the deadline to November 15, 2024!

First, second, and third place winners in each category will receive publication, promotion, and the following cash prizes:

• First place: $500
• Second place: $250
• Third Place: $100

General Guidelines

• Manuscripts should be a Word or PDF document. Please use the title of your micro-chapbook as your document name. Do not include identifying information in your manuscript file.
• In your cover letter, please include your name, contact information, and a brief third-person bio.
• Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere while under our consideration.
• Entry fee is $20.
• New extended deadline is November 15, 2024.

The MAYDAY Short Fiction Prize

• Please submit manuscripts as double-spaced Word or PDF documents.
• Please use the title of your story as your document name.
• Word limit: 3,000 words. 
• In your cover letter, please include your name, contact information, and a brief third-person bio.
• Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere while under our consideration.
• All rights revert to the author after publication.
• Submissions that do not follow these guidelines will not be considered.

The MAYDAY Prizes have extended the deadline to November 15, 2024!

First, second, and third place winners in each category will receive publication, promotion, and the following cash prizes:

• First place: $500
• Second place: $250
• Third Place: $100

General Guidelines

• Manuscripts should be a Word or PDF document. Please use the title of your micro-chapbook as your document name. Do not include identifying information in your manuscript file.
• In your cover letter, please include your name, contact information, and a brief third-person bio.
• Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere while under our consideration.
• Entry fee is $20.
• New extended deadline is November 15, 2024.

The MAYDAY Creative Nonfiction Prize

• Manuscripts should be a double-spaced Word or PDF document.
• Please use the title of your essay as your document name.
• Word limit: 3,000 words. 
• In your cover letter, please include your name, contact information, and a brief third-person bio.
• Simultaneous submissions are permitted. Please let us know immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere while under our consideration.
• All rights revert to the author after publication.