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 open for submissions on September 1, 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.
• submissions close November 1st, 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the manuscript may have been previously published in magazines or anthologies, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.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.

The MAYDAY Prizes open for submissions on September 1, 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 story as your document name.
• 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.
• Submissions end on November 1st, 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 open for submissions on September 1, 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 essay as your document name.
• 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.
• Submissions close on November 1st 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.