The journey of a poet often involves not only the solitary act of creation but also the desire to share one’s voice with the world. Finding opportunities to publish or enter contests can be a daunting task, particularly when navigating submission fees that can quickly add up. For emerging and established poets alike, discovering online free poetry competition and submission platforms is invaluable. These avenues provide crucial exposure, potential publication, and sometimes even monetary prizes, all without the financial barrier.
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At Latrespace, we understand the challenges poets face in bringing their work into the public sphere. We aim to illuminate the path by curating resources that support your artistic growth and career. This article presents a carefully compiled list of online opportunities where you can submit your poetry, focusing specifically on those offering free entry or fee waivers. Dive in and explore the possibilities waiting for your words to bloom.
A person sits by a window, writing in a notebook, symbolizing a poet finding inspiration and preparing work for online free poetry competitions.
Below, you will find a list of online free poetry competition and submission opportunities, complete with key details to help you prepare your work. Remember to always check the official website for the most current and complete guidelines before submitting.
Online Poetry Contests and Submission Platforms (Free Entry/Waivers)
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The Chestnut Review Competitions
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: 30 June 2025
- Requirements: Unpublished work (no AI-generated), 18+ age, international artists welcome. Submit 1-3 poems. Simultaneous submissions encouraged. One active submission per category. Note: Requirement about teams of three or more seems specific to other categories, verify poetry guidelines on site.
- Prize: $120 (Prize money may vary by specific competition).
- Go to site
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SPELLBINDER
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Previously unpublished (no self-published), simultaneous accepted, translations welcome (with original text). Max 40 lines/poem, max 2 poems.
- Prize: £3 honorarium and Publication.
- Go to site
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Southern Poetry Review
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Previously unpublished, welcomes all nationalities. Max 5 poems (in 1 file), not exceeding 10 pages.
- Prize: Publication.
- Go to site
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Tabula Rasa Review
- Offers free submissions (Email for feedback waivers).
- Deadline: September 30, 2025.
- Requirements: Accepts various forms (including experimental), unlimited submissions allowed, simultaneous accepted. Theme: Human Condition.
- Prize: Publication.
- Go to site
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New Voices: Frontier Poetry
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Open to new and emerging poets only, simultaneous accepted, no multiple submissions. Cover letter needed. Max 10 pages / max 5 poems.
- Prize: $50 per poem (up to $150 total).
- Go to site
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WEST TRADE REVIEW
- Offers free submissions during the first week of certain months (April to December).
- Deadline: Sat, Aug 2, 2025 9:30 AM (Specific reading period deadline, check site for free window).
- Requirements: Previously unpublished, max 5 poems per reading period. Cover letter and bio (max 150 words) required. Simultaneous accepted. Submit only once per reading period.
- Prize: Publication.
- Go to site
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2024 “I Matter” Contest (National Youth Foundation)
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Original poetry by students (K to 12), theme: Black Lives Matter. Open to US residents and international students.
- Prize: $500 (This is the contest prize, not publication fee).
- Go to site
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The Poetry London Prize
- Offers a limited number of free entries for students/unwaged.
- Deadline: Tue, Jul 1, 2025 4:30 AM
- Requirements: Open internationally, entries in English, max 80 lines (excluding title/blank lines). Must be previously unpublished and not a winner in another competition.
- Prize: First Prize £5,000, Second Prize £2,000, Third Prize £1,000.
- Go to site
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PRISM International
- Offers an Inclusive Access option (fee waiver) for those unable to pay the regular fee.
- Deadline: Wed, Jun 11, 2025 12:30 PM
- Requirements: Original, previously unpublished. Accepts simultaneous, cross-genre, hybrid, interdisciplinary poetry. Accepts up to 4 poems (max 6 pages). Each poem in its own form.
- Prize: $500 & publication.
- Go to site
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Seedlings Micro Poetry
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Simultaneous submissions allowed, original work in English only. Word limit: 20 words or less.
- Prize: Publication.
- Go to site
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Poetry London Submissions
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Do not print previously published work. Electronic and postal submissions welcome. Work should be original.
- Prize: £30 per poem.
- Go to site
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Live and Let DEI Anthology
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Thu, May 1, 2025 3:30 PM
- Requirements: No restriction on age or nationality. Only one poem accepted per author. Max 250 lines. Any topic, but keywords (DEI) should play a significant role. Satire welcome.
- Prize: $3,750 (This seems to be a contest associated with the anthology).
- Go to site
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Blue Mountain Greeting Card Prize
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Annual competition for Undergraduate student poets enrolled in a US College or University. Limit of 3 poems per category. Accepts unpublished, original poems in traditional modes (meter, rhyme, received forms). Accepts Spanish poems and translations of English poems to Spanish.
- Payment: $300 (worldwide, exclusive rights), $50 (one-time book use).
- Go to site
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The Malahat Review
- Offers free submissions (implied, payment indicates acceptance).
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Do not publish previously published work (online/offline). Simultaneous accepted. Accepts 3 to 5 poems (up to 10 pages max).
- Payment: CAD$70 per published page + subscription and copies.
- Go to site
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Eurydice Lit
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Not mentioned (check site)
- Requirements: Submitters must be between 11-24 years of age. Accepts simultaneous submissions. No more than 80 lines per poem. Up to 3 poems per submission.
- Prize: $5.00 USD minor monetary compensation.
- Go to site
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MIDWEST REVIEW
- Limited Fee Waivers Available.
- Deadline: Fri, May 16, 2025 10:30 AM
- Requirements: Submit up to 5 poems or 10 pages in one file. Simultaneous submissions allowed. Do not accept previously published work.
- Payment: Publication.
- Go to site
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The Split Lip Magazine
- Offers free submissions (implied by payment).
- Deadline: Open in selected months (Jan, Mar, May, Aug, Sep, Nov).
- Requirements: Seeking ‘First-time electronic publication rights’ (unpublished). Accepts simultaneous submissions, one submission per writer at a time.
- Payment: $75 per author for poems + $5/page for print (min $20) + 2 copies.
- Go to site
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Palette Poetry
- Offers free submissions (implied by payment).
- Deadline: Open.
- Requirements: Open internationally to poets writing in English. Accepts simultaneous submissions. Max 5 poems, max 10 pages. Do not accept multiple submissions.
- Payment: $50 per poem (up to $150 total).
- Go to site
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Cafe con Libros Press
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: August 31, 2025
- Requirements: Submit 5 poems or up to 10 pages. Previously unpublished books accepted (verify for individual poems). Simultaneous submissions accepted.
- Payment: Publication.
- Submissions via email: [email protected]
- Go to site
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The Prairie Schooner
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Fri, May 2, 2025 10:30 AM
- Requirements: Unpublished, original poems only. Limit 5-7 poems per category. Particularly welcomes work by writers of color and those from disenfranchised backgrounds.
- Prize: Publication.
- Go to site
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Existere – Journal
- Offers free submissions (payment offered upon acceptance).
- Deadline: Not mentioned (check site)
- Requirements: Simultaneous submissions welcome. Submit 5 pieces or less. Submitter must live in Canada and be 18+. Only previously unpublished work considered.
- Payment: $100 per accepted submission + complimentary copy.
- Go to site
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Poetry London Prize 2025
- Offers a limited number of free entries for students/unwaged. (Duplicate of #8, consolidating info).
- Deadline: Tue, Jul 1, 2025 4:30 AM
- Requirements: Open internationally, entries in English, any subject/style. Previously unpublished works only. Multiple submissions accepted. No restrictions on themes, subjects, or styles. Max 80 lines.
- Prize: First £5,000, Second £2,000, Third £1,000.
- Go to site
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2025 National Summer Poetry Contest
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: July 31, 2025
- Requirements: Original, unpublished work. Simultaneous submissions NOT allowed. One poem per entry. Max 48 lines. Any topic or style.
- Prize: $3500 awarded in cash and other prizes.
- Go to site
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Poems: The New Material Ecopoetics (Arc Poetry)
- Offers free submissions (implied by payment).
- Deadline: May 16, 2025 12:30 PM
- Requirements: Seeking experimental eco-poetry with organic form, experiments with lyric, visual, material, sound poetics. Previously unpublished poetry in English or translations into English. Max 3 poems or 360 lines.
- Payment: $50 per page.
- Go to site
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Frontier Poetry Magazine (General Submissions)
- Offers free submissions (implied by payment).
- Deadline: Always open
- Requirements: Open to new and emerging poets only. Max 10 pages / max 5 poems. Multiple submissions NOT allowed.
- Payment: $50 per poem.
- Go to site
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The MacGuffin Submission
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Do not accept previously published work. Accept simultaneous submissions. Do not consider translations.
- Prize: Publication.
- Go to site
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Poetry London Submissions
- Offers free submissions. (Duplicate of #11, consolidating info).
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Submit up to six poems. Particularly keen on poems in translation, especially from endangered languages. Do not print previously published work.
- Payment: £30 per poem.
- Go to site
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Wildscape.
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: May 15, 2025
- Requirements: Up to 5 poems accepted, each max 2 pages. Previously unpublished work. Simultaneous submissions welcome. Up to two submissions allowed per period.
- Payment: Publication & nomination for Pushcart Prize/Best of the Net.
- Go to site
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Moonday Mag Submission
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication/prize nomination).
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Up to 5 poems not exceeding 10 pages collectively. Welcomes simultaneous submissions and previously published work.
- Payment: Publication + prize nomination.
- Visit site
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Harbor Editions – 2025 Hybrid Chapbook
- All fees waived for BIPOC identifying writers and previous finalists.
- Deadline: Tue, Jul 1, 2025 12:30 PM
- Requirements: Hybrid chapbooks (combines genres/defies classification), 20-50 pages. Previously unpublished works accepted, simultaneous permitted. The collection as a whole must be unpublished. Do not accept translations.
- Payment: Standard publishing contract, 20 copies, online micro chapbook publication.
- Visit site
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Prairie Schooner (Another Entry)
- Offers free submissions. (Duplicate of #20, consolidating info).
- Deadline: Fri, May 2, 2025 10:30 AM
- Requirements: Do not prefer simultaneous submissions. Do not consider previously published work. 5-7 poems accepted. Welcomes writers of color and from disenfranchised backgrounds.
- Payment: Publication.
- Visit site
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NEBRASKA Press (Book Manuscript Prize)
- Offers free submissions for prize consideration.
- Deadline: Jun 2, 2025 10:30 AM
- Requirements: Submissions for book-length manuscripts. Include full manuscript, working title, brief description (max 250 words), type of submission, short bio, email. Literary translations require original/translated titles, descriptions, bios, sample translation (15-20 pages), original publisher info, English rights availability.
- Prize: $2,000 cash prize (winner), $1,000 (honorable mention). Publication by University of Nebraska Press.
- Visit site
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ABRAXAS Review
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: Wed, Jul 2, 2025 9:30 AM.
- Requirements: Accepts literary works in any genre/form, from writers of all backgrounds/identities. Multiple submissions considered. Simultaneous submissions accepted. Poetry submissions max 5 poems.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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Wildscape Literary Journal (Another Entry)
- Offers free submissions. (Duplicate of #28, consolidating info).
- Deadline: Thursday, May 15, 2025 11:59 PM EDT
- Requirements: Simultaneous submissions accepted. Do not accept previously published work. Up to 5 poems, each max two pages. Up to two submissions per period.
- Visit site
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Spiral House Editions X fieldnotes collective (Poetry Call)
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: Friday 2 May, 2025
- Requirements: Theme: “Seed, Spore, Rhizome: ecopoetics of community and justice”. Max 6 pages total. One submission per person. Collaborative submissions considered. Must not have been previously published. Simultaneous submissions permitted.
- Prize: £100.
- Visit site
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American Literary Review General Subs.
- Offers fee-waived submissions upon request (email [email protected]).
- Deadline: Fri, May 2, 2025 10:30 AM
- Requirements: Include up to 5 poems per submission. No word or page limit specified. Do not submit more than once per reading period. Cover letter required. Portal closes after 300 submissions.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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Grain magazine
- Free for Canadian poets. Limited fee waivers available for others (email [email protected] to inquire).
- Deadline: Mon, Jun 16, 2025 10:30 AM
- Requirements: Individual poems, sequences, or suites up to 6 pages max. Include cover letter. Must be original, human-generated work (no AI).
- Prize: $50 per page (max $250) + 2 copies.
- Visit site
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American Literary Review (Flash Flood)
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize). (Another entry for American Literary Review, seemingly for shorter forms).
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Poetry under 1000 words. Emphasis on lyricism, prose poems should have strong rhythm/sound.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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ARCANA Poetry Press: 2025 Anthology
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: June 1st, 2025
- Requirements: Theme: “Roots & Ruin”. Submit up to 1-5 poems in English. Simultaneous submissions allowed. Open to poets of all backgrounds/experience. Must be original and unpublished. Welcomes free verse and formal verse.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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South Broadway Ghost Society
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: June 21, 2025
- Requirements: Submit no more than 1-3 poems per submission. Submit only once to this call. Simultaneous submissions considered. Poems previously published online won’t be considered.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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Horror Tree (Anthology Call)
- Offers free submissions (payment provided upon acceptance).
- Deadline: June 1st, 2025
- Requirements: Theme: “It Takes a Village”. For Canadian writers/authors only, preference for BC writers. Up to 5 poems allowed. Only unpublished works. Simultaneous submissions accepted. Multiple submissions allowed.
- Prize: Publication & $5 for poetry sets (up to 5 pages).
- Visit site
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The Shore
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: June 1, 2025
- Requirements: Submit up to 3-5 poems per submission. Cover letter and third-person bio required. Simultaneous submissions accepted.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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Baltimore Review
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: Sun, Jun 1, 2025 9:30 AM
- Requirements: Send 3 poems. One submission per reading period. Prose poems preferred.
- Prize: Publication.
- [Visit site](https://baltimore review.submittable.com/submit?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwJ8bkdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp9jSokY7Fs8SKfRnmUZIU8d7782fehmDbHD5lARw_naTQqdDUwtF4eF5uz5Waem-mPR4tIWsp7-g2OmqaCXAw)
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The Carolyn Moore Writing Residency (Poetry Call)
- Offers free submissions.
- Deadline: May 15th, 2025.
- Requirements: Open to all, free from formal guidelines/restrictions. Welcomes poetry, prose, visual work, and experiments. Simultaneous submissions accepted.
- Prize: Publication (This appears to be a call for inclusion in a publication related to the residency).
- Visit site
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Humana Obscura
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: Fri, May 2, 2025 12:30 PM
- Requirements: Accepts poetry submissions of up to five poems. Brief 50-100 word third-person bio required. Accept simultaneous submissions. Will not accept work previously published.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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The Turning Leaf Journal
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Include up to 3 poems in one submission OR up to 3 hybrid pieces (max 5,000 words total). Response time averages 27 days.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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The Schooner
- Offers free submissions. (Duplicate of #20 and #31, consolidating info).
- Deadline: Fri, May 2, 2025 10:30 AM
- Requirements: 5-7 poems accepted. Must be unpublished and not plagiarised. Submission should be in English, or with an accurate translation. Simultaneous submissions are NOT accepted. Welcomes writers of color and from disenfranchised backgrounds.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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Seaford Review
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: 31 January 2025
- Requirements: Simultaneous submissions accepted. Only unpublished work to be submitted. Open to all nationalities.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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Hayden’s Ferry Review
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: Open
- Requirements: Do not accept AI-generated content. Send up to 3 poems (no more than 10 pages). Simultaneous submissions accepted. Do not accept previously published work. Do not consider book-length works.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
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Fregmented Voices
- Offers free submissions (implied by publication prize).
- Deadline: 31 MAY 2025
- Requirements: For poetry, send up to 4 poems, no longer than 40 lines each. Welcome simultaneous submissions. Do not accept multiple submissions. Prefer previously unpublished work.
- Prize: Publication.
- Visit site
Nurturing Your Poetic Journey
Finding the right platform for your poetry is a vital step in sharing your unique voice and connecting with the wider literary community. This curated list of online free poetry competition and submission opportunities aims to remove some of the financial barriers that poets often face. By offering free entry or fee waivers, these journals, contests, and anthologies make the world of publishing more accessible.
Remember to meticulously review the specific guidelines on each website before submitting. Pay close attention to deadlines, themes, length requirements, and whether previously published or simultaneous submissions are accepted. Persistence is key in the publishing world, and every submission is a step forward. We encourage you to explore these opportunities, refine your craft, and let your words find their readers.