Submissions Open for Connecticut Poetry Award

The Connecticut Poetry Society is now accepting submissions for the 2026 Connecticut Poetry Award. Entries will be accepted April 1 through May 31 at 6 p.m. via Submittable. There is a $15 reading fee for the contest, and prizes of $400, $100, and $50 will be awarded.

The Connecticut Poetry Award was established in 2009, merging older contests that honored CPS founders Ben Brodine, Joseph Brodinsky, and Wallace Winchell. The Brodine/Brodzinsky and the Wallace Winchell awards were first presented in 1998.

Submit up to three previously unpublished poems in one document without any contact information in the packet. Include one poem per page, with no poem being more than 80 lines. Work that was in any way created with AI software, or entries that include personal information, will be disqualified.

Only electronic submissions through Submittable will be accepted. Go to the CPS Connecticut Poetry Award page to enter. Entries must be received by 6 p.m. May 31, 2026. For more information, email Ed Dzitko, contest coordinator, at contests.ctpoetry@gmail.com.

Jefferson Singer is the judge for the 2026 Connecticut Poetry Award. He is a clinical psychologist from West Hartford, Connecticut, and professor emeritus of psychology at Connecticut College. He has published poems in Sixfold, the Orenaug Mountain Poetry Journal, Hartford Arts Pages, and the Medical Literary Messenger, among other journals. His book of poems, In Common Things, was published by Shanti Arts Press in 2024.

About the Connecticut Poetry Society

The Connecticut Poetry Society (CPS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion and enjoyment of poetry. At its core is the idea that we demonstrate the deepest part of our humanity through interacting with each other and sharing experiences through poetry. CPS publishes the Connecticut River Review and oversees five poetry contests, two of which offer $1000 prizes.