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Contests

Each year, Boston Review runs competitions in poetry and fiction. We also partner with the Unterberg Poetry Center/92nd Street Y to publish the winner of the annual “Discovery”/Boston Review poetry contest.

We strongly encourage online submissions for our poetry and short story contests, with payment via credit card. Contestants also may submit entries via postal mail but will not receive acknowledgement of successful submission. Email submissions are not accepted. All contest entry payments are non-refundable and previously published work may not be submitted to any contest. All winners are announced publicly and informed prior to that announcement. Please do not contact us to ask whether you have won a contest or when the winner will be announced. Complete instructions for submission to all contests follow.

“Discovery”/Boston Review 2013 Poetry Contest, with the Unterberg Poetry Center/92nd Street Y (Deadline: January 25, 2013 )

Sixteenth Annual Poetry Contest (Deadline: June 3, 2013)

Aura Estrada Short Story Contest (Deadline: October 1, 2013)

The Boston Review Essay Contest (next contest TBA)

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“Discovery” / Boston Review 2013 Poetry Contest

Deadline: January 25, 2013
Judges: Juan Felipe Herrera, Eileen Myles, Bruce Smith
Four Prizes: $500
Note: Submissions will be accepted to the 92nd Street Y only. Questions should be directed to the 92nd Street Y, Unterberg@92y.org.

"Discovery" Poetry Contest is designed to attract large audiences to poets who have not yet published a book. For the sixth year, the 92nd Street Y Unterberg Poetry Center is proud to partner with Boston Review. Each of four winners is awarded a reading at the Poetry Center, publication in the May/June 2013 issue of BR, and $500.

Timothy Donnelly, poetry editor at Boston Review, and Gregory Pardlo will serve as preliminary judges; Juan Felipe Herrera, Eileen Myles, and Bruce Smith will serve as final judges.

Many winners of this contest have gone on to distinguished careers as poets, among them John Ashbery, Rosanna Warren, Mary Jo Bang, and Mark Strand.

Read winning poems from 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.

The contest is open to poets who have not published a full-length poetry collection. Poets who have published chapbooks of less than 42 pages or in editions of less than 500 are still eligible to apply. Entries must be received by 5 pm on Friday, January 25, 2013. An entry fee of $12 must accompany the submission. For guidelines, and to submit, visit 92y.org/Discovery.

Mail submissions to:

“Discovery”/ Boston Review 2013 Poetry Contest
Unterberg Poetry Center
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10128

Sixteenth Annual Poetry Contest

Deadline: June 3, 2013
Judge: Linda Gregerson
First Prize: $1,500

Complete guidelines:
The winning poet will receive $1,500 and have his or her work published in the November/December 2013 issue of Boston Review. Submit up to five unpublished poems, no more than 10 pages total. Any poet writing in English is eligible, unless he or she is a current student, former student, relative, or close friend of the judge. Mailed manuscripts must be submitted in duplicate, with a cover note listing the author’s name, address, email, and phone number. No cover note is necessary for online submissions. Names and other identifying information must not be on the poems themselves. Simultaneous submissions are not permitted, submissions will not be returned, and submissions may not be modified after entry. Failure to comply with any contest guidelines may result in your submission being disqualified. A non-refundable $20 entry fee, payable to Boston Review in the form of a check or money order or by credit card, must accompany all submissions. All submitters receive a complementary half-year subscription (3 issues) to Boston Review. Mailed submissions must be postmarked no later than June 3, 2013.

The winner will be announced in the fall on the Boston Review Web site. All poems submitted to the contest will be considered for publication in Boston Review.

Please enter online using our contest entry manager. This requires payment using a credit card.

Or mail submissions to:

Poetry Contest, Boston Review
PO Box 425786
Cambridge, MA 02142

Read winning poems from past years:
Sarah Crossland (2012)
Heather Tone (2011)
Anthony Caleshu (2010)
John Gallaher (2009)
Sarah Arvio (2008)
Elizabeth Willis (2007)
Marc Gaba (2006)
Mike Perrow (2005)
Michael Tod Edgerton [PDF] (2004)
Susan Wheeler (2003)
Max Winter (2002)
D. A. Powell (2001)
Christopher Edgar (2000)
Stephanie Strickland (1999)
Daniel Bosch (1998)

For more poetry in Boston Review, click here.

Aura Estrada Short Story Contest

Deadline: October 1, 2013
Judge: Kiran Desai
Prize: $1,500

Complete guidelines:
The winning author will receive $1,500 and have his or her work published in Boston Review, the summer of 2013. First runner-up will be published in a following issue, and second runner-up will be published at the Boston Review Web site. Stories should not exceed 5,000 words and must be previously unpublished. Mailed manuscripts should be double-spaced and submitted with a cover note listing the author’s name, address, and phone number. No cover note is necessary for online submission. Names should not appear on the stories themselves. Any author writing in English is eligible, unless he or she is a current student, former student, relative, or close friend of the judge. Simultaneous submissions are not permitted, submissions will not be returned, and submissions may not be modified after entry. A non-refundable $20 entry fee, payable to Boston Review in the form of a check or money order or by credit card, must accompany each story entered. All submitters receive a complementary half-year subscription (3 issues) to Boston Review. Submissions must be postmarked no later than October 1, 2013. The winner will be notified in the spring of 2014 and publicly announced by July on the Boston Review Web site.

Please enter online using our contest entry manager. This requires payment using a credit card.

Or mail submissions to:

Short Story Contest, Boston Review
PO Box 425786
Cambridge, MA 02142

Read winning stories from past years:
2013 winner to be announced by July 1, 2013. Judged by Nathan Englander.
Alexandra Thom’s The Piano (2012)
Kalpana Narayanan’s Aviator on the Prowl (2011)
Adam Sturtevant’s How Do I explain? (2010)
Jessica Treglia’s Canceled (2009)
Patricia Engel’s Desaliento (2008)
Padma Viswanathan’s Transitory Cities (2007)
Tiphanie Yanique’s How to Escape from a Leper Colony (2006)
Lisa Chipongian’s Intramuros (2005)
D.S. Sulaitis’s If It’s Anywhere, It’s Behind Us (2004)
Gale Renee Walden’s Men I Don’t Talk to Anymore (2003)
Manini Nayar’s Home Fires (2002)
Kate Small’s One Night a Year (2001)
Girija Tropp’s The Pretty Ones Have Their Uses (2001)
Pauls Toutonghi’s Regeneration (2000)
Jacob M. Appel’s Shell Game with Organs (1999)
Kris Saknussemm’s Unpracticed Fingers Bungle Sadly Over Tiny Feathered Bodies (1998)
Kiki Delancey’s Jules Jr Michael Jules Jr (1997)
Mary Ann Jannazo’s No Runs, No Hits, No One Left on Base (1996)
Tom Paine’s The Milkman & I (1995)
Michael Dorris’s Layaway (1994)

For more fiction in Boston Review, click here.

The 2012 Boston Review Essay Contest

Deadline: The 2012 contest is now complete; next contest TBA
Judge: Glenn Loury (2012)
Prize: $1,500 plus publication

With all the derision cast upon flip-floppers and etch-a-sketches, it is easy to forget that changing one's mind can be a noble and decent act. Sometimes a conversion is unavoidable. It can come fast or slow, deliberately or unexpectedly. There is no formula, and that's why the story of a changed mind can be a great one.

Boston Review wants you to tell us how you came to see things differently. We are looking for personal essays of up to 3,000 words that describe experiences or encounters that forced you to recognize dissonances in your worldviews, struggle with those dissonances, and ultimately affirm new moral, intellectual, spiritual, or political commitments. Essays will be judged on the strength of the writing and critical analysis.

Complete guidelines:
The winning author will receive $1,500 and have his or her work published in Boston Review, March 2013. Essays should not exceed 3,000 words. Mailed manuscripts should be double-spaced and submitted with a cover note listing the author's name, address, and phone number. No cover note is necessary for online submission. Names should not appear on the essays themselves. Any author writing in English is eligible, unless he or she is a current student, former student, relative, or close friend of the judge. Simultaneous submissions are not permitted, submissions will not be returned, and submissions may not be modified after entry. A non-refundable $20 entry fee, payable to Boston Review in the form of a check or money order or by credit card, must accompany each story entered. All submitters receive a complementary six-month subscription (3 issues) to Boston Review. Submissions must be postmarked no later than December 1, 2012. The winner will be announced in March 2013, on the Boston Review Web site.

Please enter online using our contest entry manager. This requires payment using a credit card.

Or mail submissions to:

Essay Contest, Boston Review
PO Box 425786
Cambridge, MA 02142

 

Read winning essays from past years:
Kate Korman (2012). Kate’s essay will be published in spring 2013.

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