Hidden River Arts offers  a prize of $1000 and publication with Hidden River Press, an imprint of Hidden River Publishing, for an unpublished book-length collection of poetry.  The editors will judge. Using the online submission system, submit a poetry manuscript of approximately 75 to 100 pages with a $20 entry fee.  Submissions open March 15, 2025, and the deadline is June 30, 2025.  

Individual poems included in the submission may have been published, as long as all rights have reverted to the poet.  Please provide a full list of publications: titles, where published, date of publication, and confirmation of your rights. 

We encourage international submissions.  All submissions must be in English. We do accept your work in translation. But a translation MUST BE submitted by the poet (not the translator), with full information about the translator and the submissions must also include the work in the original language.  This is a writing award, NOT a translation award.

We allow simultaneous submissions and request only that, should your work be accepted elsewhere for publication, you notify us immediately. We also accept simultaneous submissions, but each much be submitted separately. 

Please include an introductory statement about your collection (approximately TWO paragraphs) where you discuss the themes, subject exploration, and the ways in which the poems in this collection coalesce to create a larger, overarching, work. This serves as a synopsis of the collection.  Entries without this requested synopsis will be immediately discarded. 

Manuscripts should include, in this order, the introductory statement, title page, table of contents, and when appropriate, an acknowledgments page. You must also include a certification of authenticity (see below), which states that all work in the submission is yours alone, original and non-AI generated. Manuscripts should be paginated and formatted in an easy-to-read font .  If your poetry has special formatting, please be sure that you upload the manuscript as a PDF. Please be sure that your cover letter includes full contact information, and include a brief bio and something about yourself that would not be included in a resume.  

Please note that NO Artificial Intelligence of any kind can be used in the creation of the poems in your collection.  You must certify* that all the work submitted is written by you, original to you, and in no way has AI been used for the creation of the collection. 

All decisions are made by the Hidden River Staff and are final.  We reserve the right to withhold the prize on any given year should our staff decide that no manuscripts meet the winning criteria, or if the number of submissions falls below the minimum required by our by-laws.  

Questions?  Please email hiddenriverarts@gmail.com, or see our blog at https://hiddenriverarts.wordpress.com/awards-deadlines-and-guidelines/willow-run-poetry-book-award/T

 * The certification we request regarding your assurance that no AI has been used in your materials can be a simple statement: "I assert, declare and certify that the work submitted herein contains no AI assistance or support.  The work is entirely and exclusively my own, original creation." You can include an electronic signature or simply type your full name and date.  

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Our announcements of semi-finalists, finalists and winner will be posted on our blog site. Please be sure to follow the blog so that you'll be notified of  all updates.  (http://hiddenriverarts.wordpress.com)