Submissions for the 2023 Coniston Prize will be open between June 1 and August 1, 2023.
About
The Coniston Prize is an annual award that recognizes an exceptional group of poems by a woman writing in English. Any poet who identifies as a woman is eligible.
Past Winners
2022: Amy Miller, selected by Dorianne Laux; 2021: Grace MacNair, selected by Yona Harvey; 2020: Laura Villareal, selected by Ada Limón; 2019: Quinn Lewis, selected by Kim Addonizio; 2018: Erin Malone, selected by Martha Rhodes; 2017: Emily Viggiano Saland, selected by Dorothea Lasky; 2016: Sarah Ann Winn, selected by Gabrielle Calvocoressi; 2015: Alexandra Lytton Regalado, selected by Lynn Emanuel; 2014: Flower Conroy, selected by Mary Biddinger
2023 Judge: Ellen Bass
We are thrilled to announce that acclaimed poet Ellen Bass will select our winner in 2023!
Poet and educator Ellen Bass is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. Her most recent book of poetry, Indigo, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2020. Previous books include Like a Beggar, a finalist for The Paterson Poetry Prize, The Publishers Triangle Award, The Milt Kessler Poetry Award, The Lambda Literary Award, and the Northern California Book Award; The Human Line; and Mules of Love, which won The Lambda Literary Award. Bass has also written works of nonfiction, including, with Laura Davis, The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, which has sold over a million copies and has been translated into twelve languages. The New Yorker has published ten of Bass’s poems throughout the years, and two have been chosen for The New Yorker podcast. In 2021, Bass was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry. She teaches in the MFA program at Pacific University and lives in Santa Cruz, California.
Guidelines
The winner of the Coniston Prize will receive $1,000, and up to 10 finalists will also be awarded $175. The winner and all finalists’ poems will be featured in the October Coniston Prize Issue.
Submissions are open June 1 - August 1. (Submissions will close at 11:59 PM ET on August 1.) We notify all entrants before October 1. The entry fee is $20.
*For the first 7 days that Coniston Prize submissions are open, we will waive fees for BIPOC poets. After that time, paid submissions will continue to be open to all eligible poets. If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity, please submit through the "BIPOC Poets" option in Submittable.*
Submit 3-5 previously unpublished poems, totaling no more than 10 pages, in a single document through our submissions manager. You may include a cover letter and brief bio in the comments box. Multiple submissions are acceptable with additional reading fee.
This award recognizes an exceptional group of poems. We therefore suggest that you submit poems that are intentionally cohesive in some way, whether connected by subject matter, theme, voice, style, or imagery.
Please remove all identifying information from the poems themselves. All contest submissions will be read anonymously.
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but we cannot refund contest fees if you have to withdraw all or part of your submission. Multiple entries are acceptable with an additional fee.
Eligibility
The Coniston Prize is awarded to women poets. Any poet who identifies as a woman is eligible.
If you know the editors or our judge personally, you should not submit your work. This includes current or former students of the editors or the judge. If such a relationship is identified, your entry will be disqualified. If you are unsure whether your relationship would make you ineligible, query us: radarpoetry (at) gmail (dot) com.
Process
Each year, the editors first read all Coniston Prize submissions without viewing any personal information (name, cover letter, or bio). From these submissions, the editors select up to 10 finalists. The finalists’ manuscripts, free of any identifying information, are then sent to the contest judge, who selects a winner.
Please click below to submit. We look forward to reading your poems!
Code of Ethics
We adhere to the CLMP Contest Code of Ethics.
CLMP’s community of independent literary publishers believe that ethical contests serve our shared goal: to connect writers and readers by publishing exceptional writing. We believe that intent to act ethically, clarity of guidelines, and transparency of process form the foundation of an ethical contest. To that end, we agree to 1) conduct our contests as ethically as possible and to address any unethical behavior on the part of our readers, judges, or editors; 2) to provide clear and specific contest guidelines — defining conflict of interest for all parties involved; and 3) to make the mechanics of our selection process available to the public. This Code recognizes that different contest models produce different results, but that each model can be run ethically. We have adopted this Code to reinforce our integrity and dedication as a publishing community and to ensure that our contests contribute to a vibrant literary heritage.