Manuscripts must be at least 48 pages and no more than 100 pages. They may be composed of any number of poems.

On one piece of paper, put only the title of your manuscript. On another piece, put the title of your manuscript, your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number. Please don’t put your name anywhere else in the manuscript (it shouldn’t appear in running heads, either, please).

Yes. We use Submittable for online submissions. See Submission Guidelines above, and click the "Online" button.

Yes, individual poems may have been published before (be sure, however, that you have the rights to publish those poems in book form). But the collection itself should be unpublished.

No. Even self-published books are considered published.

Please don’t include acknowledgements of poems’ previous publication. We will remove them from your manuscript before the judges see them.

The contest is open to all themes and genres, though we highly recommend that you read some of the previous winners to gain a sense of the level of craft typical of the Colorado Prize for Poetry.

No, please submit only your own original work in English.

Yes, as long as the artwork isn’t your only copy; we don’t return manuscripts.

No, each poem must appear on its own page.

No.

No.

No. But please note that print subscriptions can be sent only to US addresses. Poets living outside the US will receive a digital subscription, provided they supply a valid e-mail address.

If you are, however, a foreign national working in the United States, please check the conditions of your visa status with regard to receiving payment (in the event that your manuscript is selected as the winner) from entities other than your sponsor. Colorado State University cannot issue honoraria to foreign nationals with B1/WB, B2/WT, H-1B, or F-1 visas. A J-1 visa holder with a sponsor other than CSU must have written authorization from the Responsible Officer (RO) at their sponsoring institution prior to the activity.

No, students, alumni, and employees of Colorado State University are not eligible to compete. Nor are friends, colleagues, or students (current or former) of the judge.

We consider someone a student of the judge if they have taken one or more semester or quarter courses from the judge (no matter how long ago), but we do not consider someone who has taken only a weekend or weeklong workshop to be a student of the judge. That said, if after taking such a workshop you have remained in contact with the judge or believe that your relationship somehow constitutes a conflict of interest, please refrain from entering this year.

Yes. If your manuscript is selected for another prize before our contest ends, please notify us immediately.

The author retains the copyright, but the Center for Literary Publishing (the publisher) controls the publishing rights.

Yes.

The first printing will be 500 copies.

Yes.

Yes. The $2,500 honorarium is an advance against royalties. Once the book sells enough copies to surpass the advance, the author receives 10 percent of the net receipts.

Yes. Each year we have different judges and different entries, so it’s really a different contest every year.

Yes, but each entry must be accompanied by the $25 entry fee (please add $3 for online submissions; the extra $3 goes to Submittable, the good people who run the online submission program). If you do enter more than once, let us know what you’d like to do with the second subscription (send it to someone else or extend the subscription to two years). Please don’t, however, enter twice with the same manuscript—it’s not a drawing.

It varies year to year, but generally between 700 and 800.

Brenda Shaughnessy is the author of six poetry collections, including Tanya (March 2023, Knopf); The Octopus Museum (2019, Knopf); So Much Synth (2016, Copper Canyon Press); Our Andromeda (2012), which was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Award, The International Griffin Prize, and the PEN Open Book Award. Her work has appeared in Best American Poetry, Harpers, The New York Times, The New Yorker, O Magazine, Paris Review, Poetry Magazine, and elsewhere. Recent collaborative projects include writing a libretto for a mass commissioned by Trinity Church Wall Street for composer Paola Prestini, and a poem-essay for the exhibition catalog for Toba Khedoori’s solo retrospective show at LACMA. A 2013 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, she is Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rutgers University-Newark. She lives in West Orange, New Jersey with her family.

Adrian Lürssen, Leonora Simonovis, Kate Bolton Bonnici, Brandon Krieg, Gillian Cummings, Lauren Haldeman, Mike Lala, Catherine Imbriglio, Jack Christian, Eric Baus, Zach Savich, Rob Schlegel, Endi Bogue Hartigan, Craig Morgan Teicher, Jaswinder Bolina, Karen Garthe, Rusty Morrison, G. C. Waldrep, Robyn Ewing, Geoffrey Nutter, Sally Keith, Stephen Burt, Michael White, Catherine Webster, and Dean Young.

Gillian Conoley, Kiki Petrosino, Kazim Ali, John Yau, Susan Howe, Claudia Keelan, Charles Simic, Charles Wright, Jane Miller, Mark Strand, Jorie Graham, Allen Grossman, Fanny Howe, Donald Revell, Forrest Gander, Cal Bedient, Lyn Hejinian, Paul Hoover, Martha Ronk, James Longenbach, Cole Swensen, Elizabeth Willis, and Stephen Burt.

Colorado Prize, Center for Literary Publishing, 9105 Campus Delivery, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523-9105.

Colorado Review.

Yes, if you are entering online. If you are sending your manuscript as a hard copy by mail, please enclose a check or money order.

No. If you want to submit electronically, you must submit via Submittable. See the online submission guidelines above.

That $3 goes to Submittable. $1.11 is a credit card fee they have to pay, and $1.89 goes to support their amazing work. In most cases, it will be less expensive for you to submit online than to mail your manuscript. But it’s entirely your choice how to submit; we do not privilege online manuscripts over paper manuscripts (or vice versa).

Entrants must be at least 18 years old.

Yes, we have a limited number of fee waivers for writers experiencing financial hardship. Please email us at creview@colostate.edu to request a waiver. If you were granted a fee waiver in the last two years, please do not request one this year; our policy is to grant them only every three years.