P – Autumn House Press Rising Writer Prize

Guidelines for the Rising Writer Prize

• Must be the author’s first full-length poetry collection (previous publications of chapbooks and full-length books in other genres are fine) 
• The winners will receive book publication, $1,000 honorarium, and a $500 travel/publicity grant to promote their book
• All finalists will be considered for publication
• Submissions should be approximately 50-80 pages
• The reading fee is $25 (We will waive the submission fee for those undergoing financial hardship or living with limited means. Please check out our FAQs page for more information)
• Do not include your name anywhere on the actual manuscript; if your name appears within the body of the text, please omit it or black it out
• You may include a brief bio in the “cover letter” section of Submittable
• Do not include an acknowledgments page in the manuscript
• Feel free to include a table of contents
• Simultaneous submissions are permitted, but please let us know immediately if your book was accepted elsewhere
• Friends, family members, and former students of judges or Autumn House editors may not submit to the contest. Students do not include interactions at short-term residencies or fellowships
• Former employees of Autumn House, including interns, may not submit to the contest

Note: There is no longer an age restriction on this prize.

Donika Kelly is the author of THE RENUNCIATIONS (Graywolf 2021) and BESTIARY (Graywolf). BESTIARY is the winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, a Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Poetry, and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. The collection was also long-listed for the National Book Award, and was a finalist for a Publishing Triangle Award and a Lambda Literary Award.