2020 SFPA Poetry Contest

The 2020 Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) Poetry Contest opened today. Entries are being accepted through August 31 from all poets, including non-members of the SFPA. Poets may enter in three categories:

  • Dwarf (poems 1-10 lines [prose poems 0-100 words])
  • Short (11-49 lines [prose poems 101-499 words])
  • Long (50 lines and more [prose poems 500+ words])

All sub-genres of speculative poetry are welcome in any form. Entries will be read blind. Winners will receive a $150 First Prize, $75 Second Prize, and $25 Third Prize in each category, as well as publication on sfpoetry.com. The contest fee is $3 per poem to enter.

The deadline to enter is August 31, and winners will be announced by October 1. To enter or learn more, see the submission guidelines on the official SFPA contest website.

This year’s contest judge is Neil Aitken, author of two books of poetry, Babbage’s Dream (Sundress 2017) and The Lost Country of Sight (Anhinga 2008), which won the Philip Levine Prize. His poetry chapbook Leviathan (Hyacinth Girl Press 2016) won the Elgin Award. Individual poems have appeared in The Adroit Journal, American Literary Review, Crab Orchard Review, Ninth Letter, Radar Poetry, Southern Poetry Review, and many other literary journals. He is the founding editor of Boxcar Poetry Review, curator of Have Book Will Travel, podcast host of The Lit Fantastic, and co-director of De-Canon: A Visibility Project.

[Based on a press release.]